Place unknown
by fixusi
Summary: The elves have taken Kili, and Fili believes his little brother is dead. Kili wants his freedom back, but escaping from Mirkwood is nearly impossible and there are many other dangers than only elves. Can he make it back home, or will Fili really bury his brother? / hurt!Kili
1. Chapter 1: Lake-town

An: So hi, welcome to the first chapter of my new fic. I won't hold you back for a long time, I'll just quickly say a few things. First of all, this is pre-quest. I have no certain ages in my mind or anything, but Kili and Fili are surely almost as old as they are in the book/movies. Secondly, thanks for Eredhys and Samwin98 for helping me out with this by proofreading and other stuff! Third thing, I do not own the photo I decided use as the cover image.

I hope all of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hobbit

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><p>Fili and Kili knew that nobody could enter Lake-town without the permission of the master of Lake-town. Daín had made it clear to the brothers - when their uncle had fallen ill he knew that Fili and Kili would have to travel back home without him, and he did his best to prepare them for the long way back to Ered Luin. Thorin had been against the idea of his nephews travelling home without him, since the way was long and full of dangers, but after he realized that he wouldn't be leaving the bed for months, he hesitantly agreed.<p>

Daín had told them to make a brief stop in Lake-town, rest and buy some necessities. "The Master of Lake-town is greedy, so if you have money to offer, he won't send you away", Daín had told them with a smirk and then handed them some coins. "With this you should be able to buy yourselves in. Save some for food and a place to sleep."

So the boys knew what to expect when they came to the entry of Lake-town. Kili glanced at Fili almost nervously, playing with the small bag of coins he had in his pocket. Fili noticed the glance and grinned at Kili. "Don't look so worried. Nothing bad will happen to us here. You heard what Daín said, all the Master thinks about is money, which we have. We'll buy our safety."

"I'm not concerned about the Master", Kili muttered, ducking his head. "You must remember what uncle Thorin thinks about men. They're greedy and unpredictable, sometimes even dangerous."

Fili huffed, rolling his eyes. "Don't be a fool, Kili. I don't believe uncle has thought about it that much. Everyone knows that the men weren't much of a help when Smaug took Erebor, maybe uncle feels betrayed."

"Maybe. But everyone also knows that Smaug destroyed Dale, and most of the men living in Lake-town now are descendants of the people who used to live in Dale. What if they have some kind of hatred towards dwarves? Because if it weren't for the gold in Erebor, gold dwarves dug up..."

"You are thinking too much", Fili said with a short laugh and patted his little brother on the head. "What have you done to the reckless Kili I know?"

They couldn't use the main entrance because it was only accessible with boat, so they used the not-so-commonly used one. It was a longer, wooden bridge which began from the dry land and ended where the city began on the lake. They had tied their ponies near the shore and were now walking down the frail-looking bridge. It was steady under their feet, but looked like it could fall apart any second.

The brothers looked around them as they walked. The water of the lake was dark and still - there were hardly any waves. The sky was dark blue, the first few stars of the night already twinkling high above them. They could see the Lonely Mountain in the distance, on the other side of the lake, rising to the darkening sky. Kili had seen it twice before, and it was as impressing now as it had been on the two earlier times. Not that he remembered much of the first time, because he did not. He had only a faint memory of it left, because he had been only a dwarfling at the time, but he remembered looking at it in awe and thinking that it could be his home some day, like it had been Thorin's and his mother's.

It didn't take long for them to reach the guards standing in front of the entrance to the Lake-town. The two men wore a bit worn-out suits, funny-looking metallic, pointy hats and they both held long torches in their hands. They had swords in their sheaths that hung from their waists.

The guards stepped forward as the brothers were close enough, emotionless expressions on their faces. "Who are you, and why have you come to Lake-town?" asked the one on the right, eyeing the dwarves in front of him.

"We are Fili and Kili, dwarves from the Blue Mountains. We are travelling back home from our relatives in the Iron Hills, and we're here simply to seek a place to rest in and to buy some food", Fili told the guards in the most polite manner.

The guards glanced at each other - something on their faces told that the answer had pleased them.

xx

Kili threw another stick into the fire and quickly hid his arm beneath the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders. It was a pretty cold night, not as cold as it could have been, but cold anyways.

"This is stupid. The Master is stupid", Kili muttered to himself, rocking his body a little. He was freezing. "I can't believe he declined. We offered him so much money and he _declined_. Threw us out. Just like that, as if we were nothing." He was angry, hungry and cold. They did have food left, and it was cooking as he spoke, but it took another twenty minutes for the soup to be ready. Kili was positive that he'd die of starvation before that.

The older one glared at Kili. "I know. You don't have to repeat it over and over again." Fili was, too, slowly getting annoyed, not because of what had happened in Lake-town, but because of his brother. He was disappointed in the fact that they had been thrown out, yeah, but Kili was acting childishly, and Fili was about to snap back at him if he didn't shut up soon. He was tired and hungry, and not feeling good enough to listen to Kili's complains.

"_Alfrid Lickspittle. _How stupid name is that?" Kili said with a dry laugh. "Lickspittle."

"I've heard worse", Fili mumbled. "Just can't remember any right now."

"We got in already! We were _in_ Lake-town and everything was going well, and still we were thrown out?"

It was pitch black around them. They were sitting at the edge of a forest -Mirkwood, if they were where they were supposed to be- and near a river. It was a beautiful place, the Lonely Mountain climbing high to the sky somewhere far and Lake-town glimmering above the lake's water some distance away. It was quiet as well, which Kili liked. He liked to sleep in silence.

Kili picked up a thicker stick and threw it to the fire as well. It rattled a little and the fire started dancing more wildly than it had earlier. He could tell that Fili was getting angry, so he decided to be quiet for a few minutes. He didn't feel like arguing now.

"Could you stop throwing sticks into the fire? You're wasting them, and it's not even that cold. We will run out of them in five minutes if you keep doing that", Fili sighed and looked at Kili, who was shuddering under the blanket. "Are you really that cold?"

"I am", the younger one replied and leaned backwards a little. "I'm freezing, if you must know."

"How come I'm not cold at all?" Fili wondered, continuing drawing into the ground with a stick he held in his hand. He had been drawing a picture of their family, and now he only had himself to do. It was a time-killer, not anything else. He didn't even like drawing that much.

Kili shrugged. "I don't know, but be glad. This is awful."

"What if you're sick?" Fili suggested, glancing up to meet Kili's eyes. He couldn't see well in the dark, but Kili seemed a little pale from what he could tell. It wouldn't be a surprise. They had been sleeping on the cold, hard ground for many nights after all, and everyone knew how that tended to make fever rise. "Do you feel ill?"

_Well, maybe_, Kili thought but decided not to say it out loud. Being sick would only make them slow down their speed even more, and they were already travelling slow. Fili was overly protective of him at times, and if Kili as much as stumbled down and scratched his knee Fili would probably freak out and deny him from moving for two weeks.

Alright, maybe not. But it got close to that sometimes, and Kili wanted to reach home some day. "I don't think so. I'm only tired, that's all."

Fili didn't look convinced, and as he eyed Kili his eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to get inside his mind and find out if he was lying. But he nodded nevertheless, deciding to let it go. Again, he trusted Kili and he was sure that if he really felt sick, he would tell. He knew Kili wasn't stupid even if reckless and even careless at times.

The food was ready after what felt like an age to the younger one of the brothers. Kili found himself slowly getting more and more tired as he ate the soup that included more water than meat or potatoes. Fili ate with pleasure, enjoying the sensation of warm food entering his mouth. They hadn't dared to eat anything warm in a few days because their supplies were limited, and eating dry bread only had already gotten monotonous and boring.

"We should try to get some sleep", Fili told his brother and yawned as they finished their meals. He could hardly keep his eyes open anymore, and longed for nothing else than some rest now that he was full.

Kili nodded, grinning a little. "Sounds great."

They decided to keep the fire burning. They were so close to Lake-town that it was almost impossible for orcs, goblins, trolls or any unwanted guests to travel nearby. They were safe, they were full and the fire would keep them warm. It was as good as it could be.

For Fili, at least. Kili was still freezing, and felt maybe even a little nauseous. Yeah, he was sick and he realized it himself. _Sleep will help_, he thought and closed his eyes with a sigh. He didn't get to relax for a long time, though, because soon he felt like he was spinning. His eyes snapped open and the spinning sensation stopped.

He sighed again. He lay on his back, his arms crossed over his chest. Millions of stars glimmered above them, distracting Kili from thinking about anything but their beauty. Soon he heard Fili's silent snoring. Kili didn't know how much time he had wasted on watching the stars, but he decided to try to get some sleep.

xx

The forest was peaceful around him. Chirping of birds and the song of grasshoppers was the only noise Kili could hear besides his own, now steady breathing and footsteps. Now and then a stick broke under his feet, causing the young dwarf to jump. The huge trees grew everywhere around him, blocking any light that could have escaped the stars and the moon.

He had tried to sleep, he really had tried, but the more he tried the more awake he was, and now he wasn't even tired anymore. So he made the decision to go and walk in the forest, hoping it would tire him out.

Even though it was peaceful and somehow really magical, Kili was a little paranoid. Every sudden noise made him flinch back and reach for his sword, even if the noise was a stick breaking under his own foot. He guessed his fever was going down because he was so hot that he was sweating, and had already taken off his jacket that now hung from his waist.

He made sure not to get lost. He had taken one of Fili's small knives and used it to carve a mark to the bark of trees after a walking for a while, marking his path. He wasn't stupid, even if he was sick and his head didn't work well. He knew there was nothing to be scared of in the woods, not that close to the edge anyways, so why was he so jumpy?

He fell deep into his thoughts. He imagined scenarios where he saved the day in different, very heroic ways. How they got in to Lake-town but the Master attacked them and how he needed to save Fili, and how they would steal a boat and escape with that. Fili would be grateful and their mother would be proud of him - instead of the usual worrying and lecturing.

Suddenly Kili realized that he had been walking for a _long_ time. The trees were thicker there and even less light came through the heavy roof made of leaves and branches. Somewhere along the way the birds had stopped singing and now it really was silent.

Kili stopped and looked around himself. He had marked the trees and knew that he only needed to turn around and walk back to get to the open air again, to where Fili was sleeping, but something felt wrong. He was surrounded by darkness but it felt like it wasn't _only _darkness, as if there were something behind the trees or in the shadows. His heart started to race - why had he come here? He stared into the shadows around him, but saw nothing.

Still, the suspension came too much for him to bear. He spun around and started to run back to where he came from, but he didn't manage to run far before he heard steps echoing around him. His heart was racing in his chest, he admitted it, he was scared. Really scared.

Then he came to a sudden stop - there was someone in the shadows a few meters away from him. Immediately he drew out his sword and pointed it at the someone, taking a step backwards. "Stay where you are!" Kili yelled, focusing on keeping his hands steady. "Don't come any closer!"

Kili saw the someone lift up a bow and quickly took a step forward to attack the man, but it was meaningless. Because out of nowhere came four more, yelling at Kili to drop his weapon.

It was not easy, but Kili obeyed. He threw his sword angrily onto the ground, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on the one standing in front of him. "I haven't done anything", Kili hissed, but was cut off by the one in front of him.

"Keep quiet, dwarf, and kneel." That someone was still standing in the shadows, but Kili guessed that it was a man. They were so close to Lake-town that maybe someone from there had come after them. He was angry - he had known they shouldn't trust them! Now someone was there to kill them, and they were separated. Fili was alone on the shore, for Mahal's sake.

And then Kili realized. If these were men from Lake-town, they would have used a boat to get to the shore. Kili had left Fili on the shore alone-

"Obey, _dwarf!_"

Kili couldn't even start to kneel before one of the men behind him already shoved him to the ground. Kili's knees hit the cold, hard ground hard, sending a wave of pain up his legs. He suffocated a cry as the same man forcefully grabbed his shoulder, his bony fingers pressing his muscle hard, and yanked his back straight. And so, there he was, in the arms of men, vulnerable and unable to defend himself. This was it, Kili knew it. His short life had gone to an abrupt end.

"What shall we do to it?" asked one of the men, the one on Kili's other side. Kili glanced at the speaker only to see a long, beautifully braided brown hair and pointy ears, along with a dress-like outfit. They weren't men, Kili figured and quickly ducked his head. They were elves.

They weren't men, which meant they didn't come from Lake-town, he thought and suddenly got it - that meant that Fili was probably alive. It immediately sparked a new light into the young dwarf; Fili was out there, and the situation didn't seem as hopeless anymore.

The elf in front of Kili stepped further from the shadows so at last Kili could see him. He was taller than others and had an extraordinarily long, golden hair. It had no braids in it so it hung loose around him. He had a more detailed outfit made of green and brown material. The expression on his face was mighty and knowing, and his whole appearance was just.. big. As if he were some kind of leader. Kili's and his eyes met, and even though every cell in Kili told him to duck his head, Kili kept staring.

"We will take him to the king", the one in front of Kili said, never breaking the eye-contact with the dwarf. "King Thranduil will decide what to do to him. Spying on our lands is a grave mistake, dwarf."

"Spying?" Kili blurt out and forced out a chuckle. "Oh, I was _not _spying. I was just simply walking around."

"At this hour, when the moon is at the highest?" the elf who had pushed and yanked Kili and still held him tightly in place, laughed. "I dare to think you are lying. Why else would have you run away from us like that? You must be a spy. How bold of dwarves, to send a spy this young, who doesn't even seem to know what he is doing."

That explained a lot. Kili had felt that there was something in the darkness, and he had been right.

"I did not see any of you!" Kili explained and sighed deeply, ducking his head. He had to find a way out of this, he knew it. What if they took him -or worse- and in the morning when Fili woke up, he would be alone? Kili grimaced unhappily. What a mess. "And for the last time, you fools, I am not a spy. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to walk around a little bit. Is that a crime on your lands?"

The elf in front of Kili shook his head a little, his golden hair flying in the air. "I am too tired to listen to excuses. Make him ready to be transferred."

Suddenly Kili was released and he jumped to his feet. Just as he was trying to ask what they were going to do to him, something hit the back of his head hard, and the last thing he saw before the darkness engulfed him was the ground coming at him with an alarming speed.


	2. Chapter 2: A blonde dwarf

An: I didn't intend on publishing this chapter today (I had friday in my mind) but I wrote a lot today so fuck it, I have no reason to wait until friday. You're welcome! (So this means that the next chapter is out on saturday or so, but no promises)

This is a bit longer chapter but I just couldn't leave any stuff out without making it seem too fast-paced (to me, at least) and stuff. So yeah. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are all awesome. :)

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><p>He had always thought that waking up after losing consciousness happened fast, like you just jumped awake and that was it. Kili had never lost consciousness like that - once, when he was younger, he had fallen from a tree and hit his head to the ground a little too hard. Everything had gone black for a few minutes, but he had woken up in a rush and was immediately on his feet again. He had had a headache that he was sure would kill him, but other than that he had been fine. No broken bones or anything, not even a single wound on his body. A little bruising, sure, but nothing major.<p>

This time was different, though. The first time he woke up, he felt drowsy and exhausted so it was hard to even open his eyes. He barely had the time to realize he was in a small room before he blacked out again in a matter of seconds.

When he awoke for the second time, things were better already. Headache was there to welcome him back to the world of the conscious, causing Kili to groan. Thankfully he could open his eyes with little effort, but a bright light shining in from outside of the room was almost blinding, and for a minute he just laid there, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness.

Kili blinked a few times, just staring at the ground. He was lying on his stomach, his other cheek pressed against the rough floor. It was some kind of rock with rugged surface that would scratch your skin if you lost your balance and fell over. It was hard to force his limbs to move, but slowly he gathered his strength and pushed his body so he was sitting up on the ground, his back hitting a wall behind him. He leaned against it, massaging his eyes a little. Mahal, he was somehow really helpless.

Now he could have his first look around and see where he was. He remembered what had happened in the forest and before that, so he didn't have to guess _where _he was, no, he needed to know what this room was and if he were in deep trouble or not.

A single glance around him was enough for him to know where he was. The bars on the door and the simple bed on the other side of the small room were obvious hints. Kili couldn't help but laugh a little. Really? A cell? They had, well, practically kidnapped him and put him in a cell as if _he_ were the criminal here?

It was almost silent around him. Some footsteps echoed from outside of his small cell and he could hear someone speaking elvish somewhere far, but other than that, nothing. So, as Kili had nothing to do he went to reach for his bag of coins, not surprised when he found his pockets empty. He considered getting up and starting to yell through the bars to let him free, but finally decided not to. Maybe he could reason with the king better if he had shown that he was no animal or a troublemaker, and could be treated with respect. And besides, he was feeling too powerless to get up anytime soon.

A shudder shook his body. Great, he was cold again.

"If the fever is rising again, I'll scream", Kili muttered to himself. He disliked being sick, and how good first impression would he make to the king if he went to talk to him, delusional because of the high fever?

Suddenly he remembered that he had had his jacket with him - he wasn't wearing it so it must be in the cell with him. After another look around him he found that it surely wasn't there. He had nothing to warm himself up with, so he accepted his fate to be cold for the rest of the day. He ran his hands through his hair and let his head lean against the wall.

xx

Kili was sick of nobody answering him. "Hey! Is nobody going to tell me what's going on?" he yelled from the top of his lungs through the bars. "I will not stop yelling until someone tells me something!"

He had asked nicely. He had asked less-nicely, and he had even threatened to cut off their hair and draw a beard on their face in their sleep if he didn't get some answers, but nobody would listen to him. Nobody had told him anything, and he was growing frustrated and angry. Kili had shaken the bars so the noise must have echoed through the whole building, he had yelled and he had done everything he could think of.

Fili worried him the most. He had been alone for some time now, hopefully okay, but still alone. Kili didn't know anything about his brother. He could just guess, wonder and assume, which he did not like. He really hoped that Fili wasn't in the forest as well, looking for him, because who knew how badly that could end for him too. Kili hoped Fili was smart enough to return to the Iron Hills and get help.

"Hey, you! Come here!" Kili yelled as he saw someone climbing up the stairs nearby his cell. The elf turned to look at Kili, and grimaced. He looked like he had nothing against hurting a dwarf, and immediately Kili regretted yelling at him. Quickly Kili backed up and sat on his bed, hoping that somehow magically the elf would leave him alone.

But, of course not.

"Stand up, dwarf", the elf told him in a strict, cold voice as he got to the cell and eyed Kili as if he was a piece of filth. The voice was familiar, and Kili realized he must have been in the forest last night.

Mahal, he hoped it was last night and not a longer time ago.

"Stand up, I said!" the elf repeated almost angrily now, and Kili rolled his eyes. Did he think that yelling would scare him? The only thing Kili was scared of right now was being attacked, but he highly doubted that the man would if he just did as he were told. So, thinking that obeying was wise, Kili slowly got up and stared at the elf.  
>"What now?" he asked.<p>

The elf didn't answer, only shoved the key inside the keyhole and unlocked the door. He pushed it open and stepped in, and instinctively Kili took a step back. This caused the elf to grin and mutter something in elvish. Kili answered in Khuzdûl _-__I have no idea what you just said, but I assume it was nothing very smart so I am not even interested in understanding it- _just to annoy him.

"Walk, I will give you directions and follow you", the elf told Kili, brushing off Kili's remark in Khuzdûl and stepping aside so Kili could pass him. "But I warn you, one step too fast and you will be chained."

Kili sighed, nodding. "Where will you take me?"

"You will meet our king Thranduil. He will now decide what do to with you, you filthy spy."

The young dwarf didn't even bother to answer him, just shook his head a little and walked out of the cell. He had seen a part of the surroundings through the bars, but now that he was out, he realized how big the place really was. This endless-looking corridor with stairs leading up and down opened before his eyes. There were many cells on the same side of the corridor as his cell, but all of them seemed to be empty of guests. The cells looked like they were carved into the wall, to be honest.

The elf whose name Kili had never heard came out of the cell as well, ordering Kili to walk straight and up the stairs. Kili did as he was told and walked calmly to the stairs, starting to climb up. The stairs were also endless, at least Kili thought so, and the upper he went the more light there was. When he, at last, came to the end of the stairs, they entered a huge hallway with many doors leading to different ways. There was much light in the hall, and the dwarf guessed that his cell was located underground, since that would explain why it was so much darker.

Kili stopped in the middle of the hall, looking around in amazement. The place seemed to continue everywhere, and Kili couldn't help but wonder how big it really was. There were many elves in this room, some were just standing and chatting but most looked like they were in a hurry, dashing through the hallway and vanishing into the darkness of some corridor, probably, or up or down the stairs.

"Now here", the elf said, grabbing Kili's shirt and dragging the dwarf to the other side of the huge hall. Kili noticed some concerned and curious glances cast in his direction, but did his best to ignore it. It seemed like dwarves were rare visitors in this place. He couldn't help but think how big of a fight his uncle would have done if he were in Kili's position - poor elves, Kili thought and chuckled.

The elf dragging him glared at him angrily. "Nobody gave you the permission to speak", he hissed and shoved Kili into one of the corridors. Kili stumbled a few steps but stayed on his feet, straightening his back with a huff.

"I didn't say anything", he answered dryly as he started to walk forward in the wide corridor. It made a turn to the right and Kili found himself from some kind of lobby. There were huge doors -the main entrance, Kili figured from the size of them- leading outside on the other side of the room that had no problem with having too little space. Guards stood by the open doors, weapons in hand and backs to the hall. Kili kept staring outside - it was getting a little dark, but it wasn't night yet. Somewhere deep inside he waited for someone to burst in and rescue him, but he knew that nobody would, not this soon at least.

"Don't even think about it, dwarf", the elf sighed and laid a hand on Kili's shoulder, motioning him to stop. "That is the only way out of here, and I believe you see the guards standing by the doors. You have no chance of leaving without the king's permission, so there is no point in even trying."

It was hard not to give him a sarcastic answer, but Kili managed to only nod. He was close to seeing the king, so he needed to behave.

Kili looked around himself a little, noticing another, almost as big door on the opposite wall of the door outside. It was smaller, but it definitely was fancier. It had symbols and shapes carved into it, and on top of the door was a Sindarin word carved to the rocky wall. Some shiny stones were located around it, making the word seem important even to a dwarf who understood no Sindarin.

"Aíthon!" said the elf suddenly, snapping Kili out of his thoughts. Another one of the guards turned around, while the other one stayed in position.

"Yes, Gwaen?" replied the guard, Aíthon, in a loud voice. Something told Kili that Gwaen held a higher position than Aíthon did, even though their uniforms were similar. He believed it had something to do with Gwaen patrolling outside while Aíthon just stood by the door.

"Come here and watch the dwarf. Don't let him out of your sight and do _not _let him escape. I will speak with the king and come back for him", Gwaen told the guard and eyed him with his emotionless eyes. "Understood?"

Aíthon nodded, starting to walk towards them. "I will not let him escape nor will I let him out of my sight." As he was closer, Gwaen turned around without further word and entered a room - the king's, Kili realized. He watched the huge door slowly close after the elf, a mighty rumble echoing through the hall as it finally closed.

Feeling a little awkward for some reason, Kili glanced up at the guard now standing close to him and studied him, as he was looking elsewhere. He had somewhat silverish, a little bit curly hair that reached his chest. He was a little bit shorter than Gwaen, but just as slim. Aíthon barely had eyebrows which made his face look a little bit funny to the dwarf.

Suddenly Aíthon turned his head to look at Kili, and their eyes met for half a second. Kili quickly ducked his head, wishing that the elf could just take a few steps back or _something. _But instead of leaving Kili alone, Aíthon laughed a little, shaking his head. "You know, dwarf, that I won't hurt you unless you give me a reason to do so. I'm not like Gwaen. Actually, few of us are. So you don't need to be scared."

Kili furrowed his brows as he looked up at Aíthon again. "What makes you think I'm scared?"

The elf shrugged, smirking a little. "I am not sure."

"Well, this might surprise you, but I am not scared. My situation is uncomfortable, that's all", Kili sighed, taking a step back himself. Aíthon seemed like a nice elf, but Kili wasn't feeling like chatting with him. He was worried of what might happen if the king wasn't pleased with Kili being there, or he believed Gwaen and really thought that Kili had been spying on then.

"What's your name?" asked Aíthon after a moment of silence. Kili glanced up at the elf again, seeing a genuinely curious look on his face.

"Kili", he simply answered, flashing a little grin to Aíthon before before turning his head to glance at the door. Any moment now the door would open and Gwaen would order him to come inside. What should he do in there? Bow in front of the king? He had no idea. He hadn't met any kings before, and wasn't sure if he wanted to. However, the situation was what it was and Kili knew that he had to.

The guard nodded, eyeing Kili. He hadn't known that dwarves were that small, and it was amusing to him how a creature that small could be in such a deep trouble as Kili was. Not everyone was brought to see king Thranduil, some cases were dealt with the guards only. Gwaen was the head of the guard and quite smart, it was he who usually made decisions on what to do to random visitors on their lands. If Gwaen thought that the king's decision was needed, the situation wasn't a small one.

And honestly? He had heard rumors that this dwarf had done nothing else than wander on the edge of the forest, and if the rumors were true, the situation had been made bigger than it needed to be. If you asked Aíthon, Kili would have been released with a warning to avoid the forest from now on, if he wanted to keep his freedom. But unfortunately he was just an ordinary guard like many others, and guards like Aíthon weren't asked for their opinions.

"Well, Kili, I wish you luck", Aíthon said and reached forward to pat the dwarf playfully on the head, causing Kili to flinch back a little. The guard laughed, raising his hands up. "Sorry."

The young dwarf barely had the time to reply -_it's no problem_- before the door opened and Gwaen stepped out again. "Dwarf, the king wants to see you."

_Was he that fast? No, I don't want to, _Kili immediately thought and instinctively looked up to Aíthon, as if he needed his permission or something.

Kili's and Aíthon's eyes met and Aíthon nodded with a gentle smile on his lips, to which Kili answered by grinning a little. Kili turned around, hesitating a little, and started to approach the huge door, by which Gwaen stood looking highly impatient. His heart raced in his chest as he stepped into a _huge _room. It was spacious and full of light, and Kili imagined how any voice would echo pretty well there. In the middle of the room sat king Thranduil on his throne, as majestic as ever with a longer suit made of colors of white, golden and silver. His long, blonde hair settled behind his back and on his shoulders, running smooth under his crown.

The room had stairs as well as every other place if you asked Kili. There were maybe three low and long stairs before you could reach the king - it didn't take more than ten seconds for them to get on the last one and with that king Thranduil's height.

"King Thranduil, this is the dwarf we found wandering in the forest", Gwaen said in a cold manner, bowing a little. Kili reacted and bowed too, doing it as well as he just could. He hadn't had much practice, but in his opinion, it went well.

The king eyed the dwarf for a minute and then stood up. He walked the few steps needed and then bent over to study Kili closer - it was hard for him not to take a step back away from the king, but he concentrated hard and stayed still.

"What is your name, dwarf?" king Thranduil asked as he straightened his back again. He held his hands behind his back in a noble, proud way.

"My name is Kili, sir", he replied politely, ducking his head a little.

"And what about your family? Who is your father?" came another question, and Kili raised his head again. From the corner of his eye he could see Gwaen looking as cold as he had looked earlier. King Thranduil sat back down, leaning his cheek against his fist, looking rather bored but interested and curious at the same time, if that was even possible.

"My father is dead, sir. He passed when I was a small dwarf. I live with my mother and brother only." _No need to mention uncle Thorin. _

"I see. Where are your mother and brother now?" he asked then, eyeing the dwarf. "I hope they are not wandering around my kingdom like you."

"Oh, no, not at all", Kili hurried to say, even though he didn't know about Fili. But it was better to lie a little if it just helped them - if Kili wasn't released, knowing that his brother wandered around the woods would only cause the elves to go after him, too. If they were both captured, it would take a longer time before anybody would worry over them. "They are both home, far from here. I was traveling back home from the Iron Hills and had nobody traveling with me."

Silence fell over them for a moment, as king Thranduil asked no further questions. Kili glanced at the king, hoping that he was thinking about where to release him or anything else as good. Kili was sure that Fili worried over his sudden disappearance already, and the sooner he got out of there the sooner he'd get to tell Fili he was okay. Cold and a little bit sick maybe, but okay.

Then, just like that, an elf with bloody clothes stormed to the room, breathing heavily. In a second Thranduil was on his feet, staring at the elf with concern on his face. Gwaen turned around, looking shocked as he saw the elf. Blood had stained his clothes, but most of the mess was located around his stomach. There was a scratch on his forehead that seemed to bleed a lot, and it looked quite brutal to be honest, the red liquid dripping down all the way to his cheeks and chin.

"I apologize for disturbing. Your majesty, we were attacked in the forest", the elf explained, eyeing Thranduil with worry in his eyes. "We lost nobody, but Emlin and Malgelír were hurt and they are now getting aid for their injuries."

"Who or what attacked you?" Thranduil asked immediately, taking a step towards the elf. "And what happened to it?"

"It was a blonde dwarf, sir", the elf told and Thranduil turned to look at Kili. Something changed in the king's eyes, and Kili knew that it wasn't a change for the better. The elf continued to tell how he had had swords and how he had been a skilled fighter, and managed to escape with little injuries, but Kili didn't pay close attention. He knew he was in deep trouble.

"You did well, Minir. You should accompany Emlin and Malgeríl and aid your wounds. I will send another patrol to look for the dwarf", the king calmly explained, and Kili was certain that this was the calm before the storm. The elf nodded with a relieved smile and left, leaving Kili alone with Thranduil and Gwaen again.

"I almost trusted you, _dwarf_", Thranduil hissed and glared at Kili. "Who is the blonde dwarf?"

This was the first time that Kili had absolutely no idea what to do. Every option had its downsides, major ones. Deciding that lying was the least horrible thing to do, Kili spoke. "I do not know, your maje-"

"Do not lie to me again!" the king snapped, slapping Kili across the face, sending him crashing to the ground. "I have had enough of you and your lies! Gwaen, take him to his cell. He will stay as our guest for a little longer, until I can think of a punishment. After that send four of your men out - tell them to hunt the dwarf down and bring him here. Tell them not to kill him yet, I want to make sure he will not get away with this so easily."

The smirk that spread on Gwaen's lips was scary. Kili raised his head to look at Thranduil before he was roughly yanked to his feet. He could feel blood dripping down his nose and quickly wiped it away as he was forcefully dragged out of the king's room.


	3. Chapter 3: Friends or foes?

An: So, the third chapter! Sorry for the delay - I meant to publish this during weekend but somehow just didn't. Anyways, here this is, and umm, enjoy :D thanks for all the reviews btw! And thanks to Eredhys again :p

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><p>Fili held his hand over the wound on his left arm, trying to give it as much pressure as he could without hurting himself. He had gotten away from the elves with barely no injuries or wounds, excluding the one on his arm. It wasn't too deep but bled a lot, but even with all that blood covering his arm he felt lucky. It had been three elves against one dwarf.<p>

He couldn't understand what had happened! They had eaten and Fili fell asleep, and when he had woken up in the morning Kili had been gone. For the first hour Fili had been certain that he had just gone to the woods or something, and that his brother would return soon, but after some time he had realized that he wasn't coming back and that something had happened.

But what, exactly? Fili was sure that Kili had gone to the woods (because of the marks on the trees) but Kili was no dwarfling and knew the dangers of forests. It seemed absurd that Kili had hurt himself so bad that he was just laying in the forest and waiting for help, but it was a possibility. That was why Fili had gone to the forest himself - to see if he would find Kili.

The second option was that Kili had encountered some orcs, goblins or trolls, and had been hurt, taken or worse. This was an option Fili thought was the most likely, but on the other hand, Kili _could _defend himself and the idea itself was horrific. Fili didn't want to think that his dear brother was hurt or worse in some place unknown, unable to escape. Trolls weren't too smart but they were huge and strong, and their mother had always warned the brothers about how they ate dwarves. Goblins weren't the smartest creatures in Middle-Earth, but they moved in bigger groups and were always pleased to use violence. Orcs, on the other hand, were a real danger, but Fili had never heard that those moved in this part of Middle-Earth.

The third option was that somebody -men, elves, maybe even _dwarves_- had taken Kili. It wasn't an impossible one, but it too was an idea Fili thought was crazy. Why would anyone just take his brother with no apparent reason?

Fili shook his head as he ran through the forest, his heart racing in his chest. He had wandered the forest for hours, finding nothing. He worried over his brother, more than ever, but he didn't know what to do. If he didn't leave back to the Iron Hills immediately, the elves would come back and find him and he would have to fight again. But if he left now and Kili somehow found his way back to the shore, he would be alone and vulnerable. Those were the options; to stay and wait for Kili and look for him alone, or to travel back to Daín and his uncle and ask for help, but with the possibility of abandoning his brother.

The way through the forest seemed to take forever, but finally Fili reached their camp. He stopped and bent over, breathing heavily. The blood on his arm had dried and the wound was no longer bleeding, much anyways, so he let go of it. His knees and legs felt like they'd give up under him, so he sat on the cold ground, massaging his calves a little.

_What am I supposed to do? _he thought, shutting his eyes for a moment. _If I leave, I'll leave Kili alone. Then again, I don't even know if he is in the woods. If I traveled back to Iron Hills, Daín could help me. Oh Mahal.. Uncle will kill_ _me. _

For a few minutes he sat there just thinking. Whatever he did, he would do wrong, he was sure of it. He wanted nothing more than to find his brother, hug him, give him the longest lecture in the history of Middle-Earth about 'how not to make your big brother constantly worried' and then go home. Was it too much to ask?_  
><em>

Finally he decided that he couldn't do this alone. He would have to travel back to the Iron Hills, whether he liked he or not. Thorin deserved to know about this anyways. Slowly he got up from the ground, his legs still wobbly underneath his weight. It took no longer than two minutes to stuff everything inside the bags they had with them and leave. And so he started his journey back to the Iron Hills, cursing in his mind; if Kili weren't alright when they found him, Fili would never forgive himself.

xx

Legolas stood by the door to his father's halls impatiently. He had been asked to see him, but now Thranduil wouldn't let him enter - Legolas knew it was pointless to sigh deeply every half a minute or so, but he couldn't help it. He had seen a few of their guards enter the healer's room with blood all over them, so he knew that whatever it was that his father needed to tell him, it was something important.

By the doors Aíthon kept glancing over his shoulder to the prince. He knew it was forbidden to take your eyes off the yard, but it was as peaceful as ever and the prince's deep sighs made him curious. A few times Legolas had caught Aíthon looking, but had quickly turned away.

Legolas was highly respected among the elves, not because he was the prince but because he was a good leader, calm and loyal, but also a skilled fighter. He didn't think he was any better than the 'ordinary' elves, which made most like him. Some elves, like Gwaen, thought they were better than everyone else just because of their higher title, but not Legolas.

"Do you perhaps have something to say, Aíthon?" asked Legolas suddenly, eyeing the guard, who quickly shook his head.  
>"My apologies. It was rude from me to stare. Whatever worries you is not my business."<p>

This caused Legolas to furrow his brows a little. "What makes you think I'm worried?"

A small laughter escaped Aíthon's lips -Kili had said the almost exactly same thing just a little while earlier- but he quickly suffocated it. "Your deeps sighs, I suppose, sir."

"My father has asked me to meet him, but he will not let me in", Legolas simply explained, taking a quick look at the door before turning to see the guard again. He decided to ignore the chuckle - it probably wasn't anything important anyways. "I am only bored and impatient. Whatever he has to tell me must be important. Do you know what happened to Emlin, Minir and Malgelír?"

"No, I do not. I could not speak to them, they only rushed in. Emlin and Malgelír went to the healer and Minir went to see your father, but soon he joined Emlin and Malgelír as well. That is all I know. Apart from them being covered in blood. I could hear your father yelling just after Minir left his room, but I do not know what happened."

"Who was in there with him when he yelled?" Legolas asked, not surprised by the news, because something _was_ going on and his father wasn't the best to control his anger. Legolas had spent the whole day outside and hadn't yet heard any news, but looked forward to hearing.

"A dwarf", Aíthon said in a low voice. "A nice young dwarf if you ask me. I think he said his name is Kili."

"I suppose you don't know why he is here or what they discussed with my father?" Legolas more stated than asked, fully knowing that Aíthon, who was just a guard standing by the doors, couldn't know anything much, but he was bored and asking never hurt anyone.

Aíthon shook his head. "I believe it had something to do with the dwarf wandering our lands, but I have no further information. You will have to ask the king."

"I will", Legolas sighed and thanked the guard. Soon after Gwaen opened the door to the king's room, motioning Legolas to enter. With sure steps he marched in, glaring at Thranduil.

"What happened to Emlin and the other guards, father? And why is there a dwarf in here?" Legolas hurried to ask in a concerned voice before Thranduil could even begin to open his mouth.

"Another dwarf attacked them in the forest", Thranduil told with a wave of a hand, eyeing his son who stood by the doors. "We do not yet know _who _or _why_, but we will figure it out. Meanwhile you will go to the forest with Gwaen and his men."

"Why?" asked Legolas, taking a few steps closer to his father. "And has the dwarf in here something to do with the attack?"

"I believe that yes, but we haven't yet proven that", the king answered. "You will go out to find the other dwarf and bring him here. Alive."

Legolas stared at his father, nodding shortly. "Why do you need me to go? Our men are skilled. I have my hands full with the spiders spreading out, I do not have time for one dwarf."

"A dwarf who attacked and injured three of our elves, Legolas", Thranduil told his son in a strict voice, leaving the prince no other options than to agree and obey. "The spiders can wait, while the dwarf can't. Oh, but we will send Manadh to hunt the spiders as soon as he returns."

The prince nodded again, respecting his father enough not to start a fight with him. Because after all, Thranduil was right - the dwarf had hurt their guards, their friends, and had to be found and given a punishment for his crime. The spiders, however, needed to be taken care of as well, but Manadh could do it too. The dwarf was their main priority.

"Good. I expect you to leave as soon as you can."

"Who is 'we', if I may ask?" Legolas asked, glancing quickly at Gwaen, who shrugged a little.

"Máleth is a skilled fighter, so is Raenor", Thranduil said and leaned back on his throne, "but feel free to take whoever you like. Remember that the dwarf is also skilled. Do not get hurt, Legolas, none of you."

"We will try our best, father", Legolas replied and turned around, exiting the room, Gwaen following shortly behind him. "Go and gather those you want with us, I will ask the dwarf a few questions. Where is he now?"

"He is in the lower cells, as the king requested earlier", Gwaen told the prince (even though it was a lie - he had placed the dwarf to the lower cells just because he wanted to) and nodded. "We will be ready soon, and waiting for you by the entry."

"I will come soon as well", Legolas answered and hurried to one of the corridors, Gwaen turning to the right and picking another corridor. Legolas' path led him to the lower cells, but he couldn't quite understand why the dwarf had been placed here. This was a place they put hostages they found extremely disgusting or dangerous, and he highly doubted that a young dwarf could be either.

xx

"I assume you are Kili", echoed a voice outside the young dwarf's cell, causing him to jump up from the even harder bed than what had been in his previous cell. He looked at the new visitor, seeing a blonde elf standing on the other side of the bars.

Kili nodded, staring at the elf. "I am. No offense, but I am sick and tired of elves already, so do whatever you came to do and leave, thank you." He had nothing more to lose, so why not speak his mind? It wasn't like they could make his situation worse than it already was.

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf, and king Thranduil is my father. You must have met him already", Legolas said, ignoring Kili's comment. "He asked me to go after a dwarf that attacked our people, and in my opinion it would be wise to know what he has to do with you. There must be a connection between you two."

"As I told your father, I know nothing of this other dwarf", Kili sighed, sitting back down. "I cannot help you."_Just believe me and let me free so I can go and find him. _

"I doubt that", Legolas told the dwarf sitting in the cell. "Anyways, do you need anything?"

"So this is the plan, huh?" the dwarf asked, quickly standing up and walking over to the bars, staring at the elf. "Make me side with you so I'd tell you something? Something that I cannot possibly tell, because there is nothing to tell. I can't understand why you can't believe me."

Legolas smiled a little, shaking his head. "No, not at all. I just don't think we need to be rude, a prisoner or not. I have little time before I have to leave, so if you need anything, now is the time to ask." Naturally Legolas was lying as well - Kili had guessed correctly. He wanted nothing but to know the truth. They rarely saw dwarves and now they met two in one day? They couldn't be separate cases, not at all, and Legolas knew Kili was lying about the other dwarf.

"Well, I need nothing, so leave", Kili coldly said, meeting Legolas' eyes. "I want nothing else than to rest."

"Your cheek looks bad. What happened?"

Kili quickly raised his hand on his cheek, pressing it gently. It ached, and he guessed that it was a little swollen, but he doubted that it was anything else. He had taken a slap or two before. "Your father, dear king Thranduil got a little heated and hit me. Nothing to worry about."

"Do you want me to send a healer to look at it?"

"No need, really. Just leave."

Legolas nodded. "As you wish." With that he spun around and left, his blonde hair swirling behind him. Kili sighed heavily and slowly sat back down. What a mess. The only things that made his situation any better were that Fili wasn't there with him and that Kili knew -or was pretty sure- that he was okay, as well. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Fili just would be smart enough to return to the Iron Hills soon, before the elves went after him and found him.

The sooner the better, Kili thought and relaxed against the rough wall. He shuddered again, the familiar headache starting to make its way to Kili's head. He would have killed somebody to get a blanket or a jacket, but he would _never _ask an elf to bring him one. He didn't need their assistance. He would survive this with pride. He had decided so.

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><p>Oh and no need to remember all of the names, only Aíthon and Gwaen, and one more some time later.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: The decision

An: I stayed up for way too long to finish this chapter and I will regret it tomorrow. Oh well, I'll regret waking up anyways, because BoFA. It's tomorrow. Oh god.

Anyhow, this is a longer chapter again! Hope you like it :)

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><p>"I have finally decided what to do with you", Thranduil spoke, standing up from his throne. Kili was standing in front of him, head ducked politely. "Lucky or unlucky for you, we did not find the other dwarf. If you really were telling the truth about not knowing him, it is only unfortunate for you that we did not find him. If you do not know each other, he could have proven you correct. On the other hand, he also could have proven you a liar."<p>

"Again, I do not know who this dwarf is", Kili said again, his voice sure and strong as he raised his head. Words couldn't describe how relieved he was that they hadn't found Fili. Usually Kili wanted Fili to be with him, but this place was really an exception. "I can't prove you that, but I give you my word."

"That is, unfortunately, not enough. But as I cannot know for sure, I simply cannot let you go. There is a really strong chance that you are lying, so you need to be punished ", Thranduil said, walking around the young dwarf. "But _if_ you are innocent like you tell, it would be hugely unfair to treat you as a prisoner. This was, and still is, the problem for me."

"I believe that", Kili muttered, closing his eyes. Oh Mahal. He wouldn't be set free. Fili had to rescue him if he did not find a way to escape. He didn't want to stay there for long.

There was a pause. Nobody said anything, and Kili was too anxious to even breathe. The silence was stifling and heavy in a way, and Kili wanted nothing more than the king to open his mouth and just say _something. _This kind of waiting was unpleasant in every possible way.

Thranduil kept eyeing the dwarf with his icy eyes. Gwaen still held a strong grip on Kili's arm, hurting Kili a little.

"So I decided that", Thranduil said at last, "you'll be treated well, but you will have to work for this treatment."

Kili's eyes snapped open immediately. "What? You can't keep me here!" he yelled, taking a step backwards only to be pushed forward by the head of the guard. "This is nonsense!"

"Watch your tongue with me, dwarf", Thranduil said coldly, bending downwards a little to be closer to Kili's face. "I can and _will _change the punishment, if you aren't worth our hospitality. As I said, I strongly believe that you are a lia-"

"I don't care! I want to go home!" Kili cried, turning to glance at Gwaen before focusing on the king again. This wasn't okay, not at all. "I was just wandering in the forest because I couldn't sleep! I did nothing wrong, and now you're keeping me here as a prisoner? This is no hospitality! This is brutal, unfair and m-"

"Quiet!" Thranduil yelled, a murderous glare piercing through the dwarf. "I will not stand this kind of behavior in my kingdom. So, if this doesn't please you, I also have another option for you. You will work even harder as an exchange for a bed and two meals a day - served to you into your cell, where you will spend any free time you may have. Gwaen, take him to Amarth and tell him to teach the dwarf how to work. Immediately."

"You can't do this!" Kili yelled, and Gwaen grabbed his arm even harder, which Kili ripped free. "What exactly have I done wrong?"

"I do not need answer to you", Thranduil said, sitting down. "Gwaen! Do as I told."

"Come on", Gwaen hissed and took Kili by his shoulders, starting to walk him towards the door. Kili struggled against the elf, but he was stronger than Kili was. Gwaen kicked the door to the lobby open, and as soon as it closed behind them, Kili started kicking the chief of the guard standing behind him - he was so close to the door, so close to freedom - and actually managed to hit the elf's knee hard enough to make him cry out and loosen his grip on Kili's shoulders.

Immediately Kili twisted himself free and sprung towards the doors, where the guards stood already alarmed from the cry. "Stop him!" Gwaen yelled, struggling up from the ground where he had fallen. The other guard started to approach the running dwarf as the other went to shut the doors.

"No!" Kili yelled, eyeing the door and the approaching elf. He met with the elf and dodged the blade of the sword the guard had drawn out. He went to grab the sword but failed, cutting his palm with the sharp edge. He hissed as a burning pain spread all the way to his wrist, but ignored it. If he failed to escape now, it could be a long while before he got another chance.

He went to punch the elf, managing to hit his face hard enough to make the elf cry out and take a step back. Kili took this opportunity to kick the elf's legs and he fell with another yell, desperately trying to swing his sword at Kili's direction.

The blade of the sword met with Kili's leg, a wave of white pain suddenly exploding in Kili's thigh. He jumped back in surprise, hissing out a curse. In a second the elf was on his feet again, breathing a little heavily. A crash echoed out behind the dwarf, so instinctively he glanced behind him, seeing Gwaen on his knees on the floor, muttering angrily in elvish.

Suddenly the elf's fist collided with Kili's chest a little too hard and Kili staggered back, doubling over a little, trying to catch his lost breath again. The elf took this moment to push Kili down, and the young dwarf fell with a cry and a faint curse in Khuzdûl.

Kili didn't have the time to get up before Gwaen was there, looking furious. "That was the last mistake you ever did."

Suddenly Kili was yanked to his feet, and his still achy cheek met Gwaen's fist. As Kili's head snapped to the other direction, he raised his hands to protect his face from further blows. Gwaen's leg was throbbing with pain - the kick really had hit well - and he was blinded with anger. If only he had had the permission to end this poor thing..

Then Kili was pushed to the nearest wall, his body -and head- hitting it with a thump and then crashing to the ground again. Kili bit his lip not to cry out, and the stinging pain in his forehead made Kili want to stand up and just run away and never even think about that place again. But he knew when he lost a fight, and just closed his eyes. He would have to wait for a better time, no matter how horrible it felt.

"If you ever do that again, I will make you beg that I'd leave it here", Gwaen hissed, kneeling near Kili. "Believe me, dwarf, that if you bother me I will make your visit here a hell. I have dealt with criminals way worse than you and made them beg, what makes you even think that you could ever win me?"

"Gwaen! I believe that is enough", echoed out a familiar voice suddenly. Kili opened his eyes and raised his head just enough to see a blonde elf approaching them from the other end of the hall. _Legolas. _"You have made your point clear. Now leave. I will deal with him."

The look of anger and embarrassment from being scolded by the prince rose on Gwaen's face, visible to everyone, and it made Kili grin. It was a small victory.

The head of the guard nodded a little, stood up and left without a word. As Gwaen disappeared from the room Kili finally sat up, holding his forehead. Surprisingly much blood was oozing out of the gash just above his left eye, and Kili hoped it wasn't anything serious. He didn't know much about wounds around your face but believed that all of them bled a lot.

"You can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Legolas sighed and eyed the dwarf from a distance. The front door was closed, and Kili knew that making a run for it would be useless, so he stayed on the ground, where he was. "What happened here?"

"Why don't you ask your father? Or Gwaen?" Kili asked in return, in a slightly hurt voice. "I don't owe you explanations."

"You're right, you do not", Legolas answered with a cold stare that made him look just like his father. "But trust me, it won't help you to make me your enemy."

Kili didn't bother to answer and stood up, only to find himself on the ground again. Oh Mahal, why was he this dizzy?

It took only a few seconds for Legolas to be by Kili's side.

"I think you hit your head too hard", Legolas said, gently pressing the gash with his hand, a focused look on his face. Kili's forehead was burning hot. Was this dwarf sick? "I say we go see the healer", Legolas continued, offering him a gentle smile. He knew his father's decision - he had told it earlier that day - and he knew that Kili should have been taken to Amarth but if he really was sick, he couldn't work.

"What? No! I'm fine", Kili hurried to say, pushing the elf's hand off. He didn't need -or _want_- the assistance of the elves. "It's nothing."

"How long have you had fever?" The elf asked, wiping his hand -now slightly covered in blood- on the inside of his shirt where it wasn't visible. He decided that he could change his shirt later. This dwarf needed to see the healer before he hurt himself more than he already had.

"Since the night your elves took me, or maybe one night before that. I don't remember, but it's not a big deal", Kili tried to argue, but he knew that Legolas had made up his mind and whatever Kili did wouldn't change it. From what he had seen, he was nothing to the elves, and they seemed to think they had full control over him. And well, maybe they did. It wasn't like Kili had a say in _anything_, really.

"The healer decides that. You cannot work if you are burning with fever", Legolas explained, causing Kili to frown.

"You want me to be healthy so I can work harder and eat less", Kili muttered and rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath as he felt blood dripping down onto his cheek.

Legolas looked offended. "That is not the truth, whether you believe it or not."

Well, maybe it was partially the truth. The more the dwarf worked, the more pleased the king would be which not only helped Kili, but Legolas as well. When things weren't going too well, Thranduil let his son see it by snapping at him for petty things. This tense and angry behavior often meant more work for the other elves as well, as the king was never pleased. Anyways, Legolas would never admit it to the dwarf - Legolas needed to build trust between them to make things easier for everyone.

"It is the truth, I'm not as stupid as you think I am", Kili answered bluntly and held his hand against his forehead. It stung unpleasantly.

"Think whatever you please, we will go see the healer right now", Legolas sighed and pulled the dwarf to his feet. Kili swayed a little, his legs feeling odd and weak underneath him, but he could walk behind the elf with almost no trouble at all.

xx

Kili would have rather worked than being locked up in the cell. He had never been this bored before - back home he always had _something _to do. He could do absolutely nothing in that small cell of his, nothing else but sleep and sit in silence. Legolas had placed him in the upper cells again, in those where he had first been, and he didn't complain. The bed was comfier and some elves walked past, and even though they didn't speak to Kili, it was nice to know that he wasn't in complete isolation.

He and Legolas had gone to the healer some time earlier. The healer had cleaned the wound on his forehead and put a bandage on it before feeding Kili full of herbs that would lower the fever, but still had told Legolas not to let him work that day, or do anything actually.

Sooner or later Kili came up with a game. It was boring but it was something. He would try to guess what kind of elf walked past his cell next - gender and the color of their hair- and every time he guessed correctly, he used a stone he had found from the floor to carve a line to the wall.

He was just about to carve the sixth line in the wall when he heard steps again, and quickly spun around to look at the elf about to walk past. Ugh, a mistake. He took a step to the side and quickly put his hand against the wall in order to stay upright. Oh Mahal, how could his head feel this light?

A male elf with a little bit silverish hair came into sight. This elf was familiar, the dwarf noticed and then closed his eyes for a moment to make the spinning inside his head stop. Sure enough, it helped a little bit.

Aíthon noticed Kili and stopped, shaking his head a little. "Your name was Kili, right?"

Kili felt steady enough already, so he walked over to the bars and nodded a little. _Maybe he could keep me company_, he thought and rolled his eyes at the thought. Really? Had he really sunk this low? _Well, he was friendly, and I am bored out of my mind. It wouldn't hurt. _

The young dwarf could see that Aíthon was eyeing the bandage around his head, but before he could open his mouth, Aíthon spoke again. "What happened to you? I don't remember seeing a bandage on you when we last met."

"Gwaen did this", Kili answered and pointed at the bandage, "but I managed to kick him pretty well to the knee. Another guard, however, did these", Kili continued and showed his palm and when Aíthon had eyed it long enough, he pointed at his thigh. "Maybe it was my fault, though."

"Did you start a fight against two elves?" Aíthon asked and almost laughed a little at the thought of a small dwarf picking a fight with head of the elvish guard and another guard. It just seemed amusing to him. Even with the height difference only... It must have been a sight to remember.

"Maybe", the dwarf replied with a shrug. "Legolas took me to see the healer. The healer is a great elf, if you ask me. Fed me all these herbs so I would get healthy faster. They tasted pretty gross but I've had worse."

This time Aíthon laughed out loud. "The prince came to rescue you?"

"Yeah!" Kili answered and furrowed his brows. "What? Does he not do that often or why are you laughing?"

"Nevermind, Kili", the elf laughed and shook his head. "You are just.. an extraordinary case. I do not know if it is good, since it probably isn't, but that doesn't change anything. What will happen now?"

Kili rolled his eyes with a small grin. He had underestimated Aíthon. He _really_ was a nice elf. "I will have to work", he told the elf with a deep sigh, reality hitting him again, and suddenly he felt the familiar urge to shake the bars and annoy the elves so much they would _have to_ kick him out. "I am treated like a criminal."

The grin on Aíthon's face disappeared and for once he looked serious, even a little bit sad, Kili guessed. "I am sorry to hear that. I wish I could change that."

"You can!" Kili said before he even realized it, quickly -but not too quickly, not to make his head spin again- glancing around the corridor to make sure nobody would hear him. "You can help me escape. Nobody would ever know you helped."

"I can't do that, Kili, I'm sorry", Aíthon said, backing off a step. "I have angered the king once before, and if I do it again, I will also be punished. I do not wish this to happen to you, but I also have to think about myself. I hope you understand."

Kili closed his eyes, shaking his head a little bit before letting his forehead rest against the cool bar. "I understand. Sorry for bothering you", Kili muttered. He felt weak and as if he were nothing. Like he probably was to the elves, even to Aíthon. "Could you at least bring me something to warm myself up with?"

"I will see what I can do", Aíthon replied, grinning a little again, but with no happiness visible. "I will return shortly."

The dwarf nodded, almost collapsing on the bed again. He stared at the ceiling, wanting nothing more than to vanish or escape, but knowing that right then he could do neither. _Fili, please, come quick._

xx

Fili sat on the ground, staring blankly into the fire dancing in front of him. It illuminated the dark surroundings a little bit, making it feel safer.

He still had a way to travel before he reached the Iron Hills. If he rode fast and only stopped when the night fell, it would take him two or three days to the Iron Hills where Daín and Thorin were. He had thought about a million different ways of telling them that hey, I kinda lost my little brother and can't find him and he's probably hurt or worse even though I hope he is not, but none of them sounded good. He needed to tell the news without giving Thorin a heart attack and killing him. He also needed to tell the news nicely so Daín wouldn't end himself in the fear of Dís' anger if something bad had happened to Kili - it had been his idea to send the boys home before Thorin, after all.

A bowl of soup laid next to him. It was only half empty - for some reason Fili hadn't found his appetite with Kili gone. He was hungry but the food tasted like wood in his mouth, and Mahal, it felt wrong to eat when he knew that Kili was in trouble. Maybe in serious trouble, maybe in trouble not-that-serious, but it was trouble and who knew? He could be dead, for all Fili knew.

No. He wouldn't let himself think that - Kili wasn't dead, he wasn't. He was sure of it. They were brothers and Fili was sure he'd feel it if something _really_ bad had happened to Kili.

He turned his head to glance at the ponies - he tried to imagine that it was only silent because Kili was already sleeping, and for once he slept without snoring. His imagination failed him though, and soon enough he turned his gaze back to the fire, somehow disappointed not to see Kili sleeping on the ground.

Fili thought about the reactions of Thorin and Daín - would they be angry at Fili? Worried? Disappointed? Furious? He had no idea. Worried, definitely, but that couldn't possibly be the only emotion they'd feel. Anger was a probable one, as well as disappointment and regret. Fili didn't know, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to, either. He just hoped Kili was fine wherever he was.

The fire kept on rattling and dancing as Fili laid down and closed his eyes, and slowly fell asleep.

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><p><em>Review! Everything is appreciated - positive and negative comments, suggestions, uh.. telling me I suck is also great. Reviewers get a mental "I made a cool review B) " badge! Only for this one chapter ;) Okay, jokes aside (it wasn't a joke).<em>


	5. Chapter 5: Iron Hills

An: I'm thankful I wrote this angsty chapter a while ago because right now I'm too happy to write anything else but happy stuff! ASDfghjkl. Also, I went to see Bofa. Oh. My. God. ;-;

Eredhys, I'm not gonna mention you in every single author note because it's growing frustrating but yeah. She proofreads every chapter and thank you soo much for it. Now I'm not gonna say it again - this goes for the future chapters too!

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><p>Few days passed. Kili got better soon, mostly thanks to Aíthon who bothered to bring him things he needed in order to actually get better, and soon he was allowed -or forced, depending on who you asked- to work. So, on the third day after visiting Thranduil and getting the decision, Kili was brought to see Amarth.<p>

Amarth was an older elf, but he didn't look old. If you asked Kili, old people were grey and wrinkly and just.. _old._ But not Amarth, no, he looked young and powerful and kinda dangerous as well. He had long, brown hair and thick, dark eyebrows and his eyes were deep green. It was an odd-looking combination, but it made him look unique and with that, somehow invincible and scary. He was tall, taller than the elf that had brought Kili there, and had a long, somewhat blueish tunic.

His workplace was outside, and in order to keep Kili from running away, many guards stood everywhere around them with their bows ready. Kili's job was to cut thick pieces of wood into smaller ones, so they could be used to warm up food and rooms during winter. Amarth first showed Kili how it was done and then continued on his own project - Kili had no idea what he was doing, but it included disappearing into the forest and leaving Kili alone with the guards.

That was the first time Kili genuinely thanked Aíthon for existing - he had a little too long but definitely warm jacket on, which he owned just because Aíthon had persuaded Legolas into giving him one. It wasn't _freezing_ outside, but it was a windy day and the harsh wind would definitely have been cold against his bare skin, as he only had his short-sleeved shirt on after losing his jacket into the forest. But thanks to Aíthon, he had this jacket.

The work was hard and the now scarred wound on his palm stung if he held the axe too tight, but he also didn't want to lose his grip on it and send it flying on his toes, so he ignored the stinging and continued chopping the wood, gripping the axe as tight as he could.

Fili had just reached the Iron Hills. He looked up to the entrance, flashing a quick grin to the dwarf who looked after the ponies as he started to lead the pony away. He hadn't slept well since he had first discovered that Kili was gone, and it was starting to feel and show. He was exhausted and his eyes were sore, so he couldn't stop himself from rubbing them every once in a while. He just hoped his brains worked well enough to put what had happened into words.

"Halt!" said the guard dwarf on the main gate as Fili was close enough. "Who are you, and what is your business in Iron Hills?"

Naturally the guard knew who Fili was - or well, at least Fili thought he knew, but it was their job to ask everyone who came in who they were. Fili grinned and looked at the guard. "My name is Fili, son of Dis. Thorin Oakenshield is my uncle - I'm here to see him."

The guard only nodded in approval and stepped aside, pulling the door open as he did so. Fili thanked the guard and walked in, the familiar lobby welcoming him in. He had a feeling that he should see Daín first, so he could ask him to join him and then go to Thorin and tell them at the same time. On the other hand, if he told Daín first, he could save Fili from his uncle if he really got angry.

_I'll meet with Daín first. I can decide my course of action as I speak with him_, Fili figured and started to make his way towards the king's room, where he believed Daín was.

He walked through the halls and past many dwarves he knew, not bothering to stop to chat because he knew that they would bring up questions Fili didn't want to answer just then, questions like why was he there again since he just left and where was his brother. So just politely nodding as a hello, Fili hurried past them, not even glancing back to see if they had stopped.

Finally he reached the king's room, and noticed a familiar dwarf in front of the door. She was a respected guard of Iron Hills, fought in many smaller battles and earned her place as the guard of the king. Her name was Tuli, and if you asked Fili, she was a rather nice dwarf.

"Good day", Fili politely said as he came to the doors. Tuli looked at him and grinned a little, her red, fiery beard beautifully braided to the sides.

"Good day, mister Fili. Where did you leave your brother this time?" she joked, laughing a little. She was a complicated thing - on the other hand she was a skilled and merciless fighter and a respected, trustworthy guard, but she also had a warm heart when it came to the people she knew and liked. Fili and Kili knew her because of a stupid bet. Kili had bet that Fili would never dare to ask a female guard out, and even though Tuli had told Fili that she couldn't date a dwarf half her age, they had started to talk and were almost friends now.

Fili smiled a little awkwardly, wanting to avoid the question. "He's, uhhh..." But as he came up with nothing smart -thanks to the sleep deprivation- he fell even more awkward and ducked his head a little. "Yeah. He's.. somewhere here. But it is not anything important right now, Tuli. I need to see Daín."

The lady dwarf nodded, holding her hands on her hips. "I understand, but king Daín isn't in this room. He left some time ago, I believe."

"Did he leave Iron Hills?" Fili quickly asked, raising his gaze to Tuli again. If he weren't here, then he would have to meet Thorin without any backup at all. And Daín deserved to know, too.

"No, nothing like that, he is here somewhere", Tuli replied. "I wasn't here when he left, but I think that he might be visiting your uncle, or in the weapon-hall, or in the dining room. It's not dinnertime yet, but who knows. He's the king."

"Thank you, I must go find him", Fili told Tuli and eyed her. "We'll probably see later." With that he was off, hurrying back to the direction where he came from. He would check the weapon-hall first, then the dining room and lastly Thorin's room. If he just stormed into Thorin's room with no explications and Daín wasn't there, he'd have quite a nice time ahead of him.

The weapon-hall was empty of any kings, as was the dining room. With a deep sigh Fili decided that before he went into Thorin's room, he'd ask the dwarves of Iron Hill walking around the place if they had seen him. And so, soon enough he was talking with a young dwarf that in some way brought Kili to his mind. The dwarf was small and black-haired just like Kili, and carried a small bow in his hand. He was surely a young dwarf, no more than thirty years of age, but he could do.

"I think I saw king Daín going that way some time earlier", the boy said and held a finger to one of the corridors leading deeper to the mountains. "He might not be there anymore, though."

"That's great, thank you", Fili said and patted the dwarf's head before turning around to look at the corridor. That one lead to the healer's room, healing rooms and some of the bigger bedrooms. Thorin's bedroom was one of the bigger ones - Daín had to be there.

Fili frowned. Alright.

Slowly Fili made his way to the bigger bedrooms. Daín's bedroom was the last one, at the end of the corridor, and the two other bedrooms next to it were empty most of the time. Usually a higher guests like other kings visiting Iron Hills got to sleep in them. Thorin always got one of those two big bedrooms to himself, while Fili and Kili shared the other one.

_Knock, knock._

Fili stood behind the door to Thorin's room, his fingers curled into fists. His heart raced in his chest as if he were having a heart attack - the seconds before the door was opened felt like a lifetime to the young dwarf. But finally Daín opened the door a little to see who was knocking.

"Fili?" asked Daín immediately, opening the door some more. "I thought you'd be far from here already."

"Is Fili here?" echoed a faint question from the room. Fili closed his eyes and ducked his head for a second before walking in to the room, after Daín made some room for him to come. He didn't dare to look at his uncle - he was afraid he would see betrayal in his eyes, or complete lack of trust. Fili wouldn't bear that. He knew it.

Daín eyed the young dwarf and slowly sat back down onto his chair near Thorin's bed. Thorin was lying on his comfy, big bed, looking much better than he did when Fili last saw him about a week ago. He was still pale, but not as much as he was before. He had dark circles around his eyes, making him seem paler than he actually was. There was a bowl of soup on the desk next to his bed - it looked like it was still warm.

"Fili", Thorin carefully said, knowing that something was wrong. He knew that only one thing could get Fili into a shock that big, but didn't dare to think it had happened. "What is it? What happened?"

At last Fili met his uncle's gaze, his eyes full of regret and fear. "Uncle, I.. I don't care what you will say or do. You may disown me if you want, but please, we must save Kili. He-"

"What happened?" Thorin cut his nephew off, now in near panic, quickly sitting up on his bed. "Where _is_ your brother?"

"I don't know", Fili managed to breath out, desperately trying to hold back tears. "I don't... he was just gone when I woke up, uncle! We went to sleep and when I woke up, he wasn't there, and I couldn't find him. We _have to_ save him."

Daín rose from his chair and quickly glanced at Thorin before turning his head to the youngest of them. "Fili, listen to me. We will do everything we can, okay? We will find Kili alive and well."

Silence fell on them for a moment. Fili felt empty now - he was exhausted and scared and worried, and longed nothing more than a nap before heading off to find his brother. Thorin, on the other hand, was in shock. Kili, his younger nephew, was gone? Missing? He knew Fili was no way responsible for it, but the worry soon turned into anger and he couldn't help himself. "You should have looked after him better, Fili! You're his big brother! We both trusted you to keep him safe - you know that Kili is reckless and stupid at times! I just never believed you would be as stupid."

This caused Daín to send an angry glare at his direction, but it was already said - Fili bit his lip and ducked his head, only nodding. He felt horrible. He knew his uncle was right.

"Fili, you look bad. You should sleep", Daín gently said, eyeing the young dwarf. "Your room is empty right now, and it will take a while for me to come up with a plan on how to deal with this. You will not be any help like that."

"Yeah, fine", Fili muttered, raising his gaze to look at Daín. "Can I.. Can I get some food from the kitchen later?"

"Of course, whatever you need", Daín told him and nodded. "Now go. We will deal with this. Only one thing - where did he go missing?"

"Near Lake-Town. We were on the shore of the lake, close to the forest of Mirkwood."

Daín thanked the young dwarf and told him that he would ask the chefs to prepare Fili a good, big meal a few hours later. As Fili left with a faint smile, Thorin fell back onto his bed, letting out a long, deep sigh. "I never believed that he could do something like that."

Daín eyed the sick dwarf, anger rising inside him. "Who are you referring to, now? Fili or Kili? Well, it doesn't matter, because neither of them meant this to happen. I agree with you, maybe Fili should have taken better care of his brother, but he was _sleeping _when Kili disappeared. You can't expect him to stay up every night to watch over Kili. And Kili isn't a baby anymore, Thorin! So keep your mouth shut. Save your energy for the ones who took your younger nephew."

Thorin's eyes focused on the lord of the Iron Hills, taking a moment to think. He was right. "I need to apologize to Fili", Thorin muttered, struggling up from his bed. Daín was immediately in front of him, shaking his head.

"For Mahal's sake, Thorin, don't be an idiot; you don't go anywhere. Fili needs rest now, and so do you."

"Last time I checked, you didn't give me orders", Thorin sighed, pushing Daín aside as he started to walk towards the door. He now regretted lashing out on Fili like that and he _needed_ to tell him that what had happened was in no way his fault."You should do what you do best, prepare this whole thing, while I do what _I _do best, be with my nephews."

"Nephew", Daín said, turning around to look at Thorin. "Only one nephew for now."

Thorin stopped and glanced at Daín over his shoulder. "Not for long, I hope."

xx

It was embarrassing to him, but Kili cried.

He never cried, to be fully honest - sometimes, when he fought very badly with someone he cared about he could weep a little, but he never cried if that was out of count. He didn't cry if he got hurt, he didn't cry if things didn't go as he planned, and he certainly didn't cry if he was disappointed. But this time, he really cried, and it was awful.

He tried to do it quietly, so nobody would hear him, failing to be silent even with his best efforts. But thankfully no elves walked past his cell, since it was late. He had an untouched plateful of food on the floor, just waiting for Kili to eat it, but he couldn't find his appetite.

His hands were sore from the work, but it was bearable. The scar on his palm had re-opened and Amarth -his 'boss'- had forced him to see the healer again, who had washed the wound pretty aggressively with water, making it ache even more than it had before. But, at least it was clean and wouldn't get any infections or such.

He had seen Aíthon only quickly that day, and not a single time the day before, so he was feeling lonely. As much as he hated to admit it, Aíthon made him remain sane only by talking to him and treating him like he was something more than a small piece of filth. It was more than anybody there had done to him, and even if it had been only around four to five days -Kili wasn't sure, he had lost count already-, he was in need of somebody to talk to.

Kili had seen Legolas a couple of times, but the prince hadn't bothered to even look at the dwarf - which was fine by him. He had never liked the prince too much. Well, he was okay, but Kili knew that he was only acting nice to benefit himself. Gwaen, on the other hand, had followed Kili around wherever he was, and only now left him alone because some other guard had come to ask him if he would go patrol with them. The head of elvish guard hadn't attacked Kili or even touched him, but the presence of that elf was enough to make Kili cautious and worried.

Wiping away the tears running down his hot cheeks he sat up. The plate still stood on the floor.

He wasn't this weak, he suddenly realized, leaning his back against the cold wall. He was a Durin, after all. He was the 'reckless' one of Dis' boys. What was he even doing? Crying about his situation and actually doing nothing, whilst he could actually try to come up with a plan?

_I am not this weak_, Kili thought and leaned forward to grab the plate from the floor. _I'm not this weak and I certainly won't give up this easily._

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><p>Fun fact : Tuli (the dwarven guard of Iron Hills) is a pretty name, eh? It means 'fire' in finnish. That's why she has a red beard and hair, even though I didn't mention about the hair.<p>

And before you think that Daín is weird, this is how I imagined him; he cares about Thorin, Dís and the brothers and treats them well, while he is still a skilled warrior, a stubborn dwarf and a great leader. I don't know if that is how you have him in your mind, but that's how I have always imagined him.

Review! What did you think of it? I'm also open to suggestions. :)


	6. Chapter 6: The shirt

An: Thanks for the nice reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

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><p>Gwaen hurried through the endless corridors of the palace, cursing in his mind. All these dwarves were too much for him - he had learnt to despise them over the course of time. He had been in Dale with his one when Erebor was taken by Smaug. He had made it out barely alive but still breathing and with a beating heart, meanwhile his loved one had had a sadder ending. All because of dwarves and their greed.<p>

One dwarf living under the same roof as him had been enough and now he had spotted around fifteen of them walking close to their borders? If only he had had somebody with him, he would have gone to the dwarves and told them to leave. But no, he had been alone and the only rational thing he could do was to see his king and ask for a plan of action.

"King Thranduil!" Gwaen said in a loud voice as he stomped into the king's room, not bothering to knock. Thranduil's head snapped in Gwaen direction and for a second he looked like he would order him to leave, but then seemed to change his mind. He was with another guard, but told the other guard to leave for a moment. As the door closed behind the other guard, Gwaen bowed and looked up at Thranduil.

"What is it?" Thranduil asked, sitting back on his throne. "I suppose it must be something highly important, because running like that into my room is very impolite."

"My apologies, sir, but I saw dwarves near our borders, heading this way."

Thranduil's expression changed from annoyed to cautious, and he leaned back on his throne. "That so? How many were there?"

"I didn't count them, but more than ten. Closer to fifteen is my guess, sir. What should we do?" Gwaen asked.

Thranduil took a moment to think. These dwarves were probably looking for Kili, and Thranduil knew how stubborn dwarves were. He thought about giving the young one to his kin, but _immediately_ decided not to when he remembered something.

"Say, Gwaen son of Calemen, did you see a blonde dwarf?"

The blonde needed to be punished for his crime. He knew that the two dwarves, the blonde and the young one, knew each other some way, although he had no proof of it.. And Thranduil had an excellent punishment in mind. Taking away something precious from the blonde would be the worst kind of punishment. He had a plan, and it was a good one. It would be right for both of them - Kili, and his mysterious blonde friend.

"I believe I did see a blonde, young dwarf", Gwaen told Thranduil with a knowing look in his eyes. "Do you think he is _the_ dwarf?"

"That is a possibility", Thranduil simply answered and stood up. "Where is the young dwarf now?"

"Working in the forest with Amarth, sir", Gwaen replied. "Why?"

"I understand", Thranduil muttered and nodded, and continued to explain his plan in detail to his chief of the guards.

And the plan was more than okay to Gwaen. He would never turn down a chance to spill blood as long as it wasn't elvish. And he personally thought that the king's plan was marvelous. It would be what the dwarves deserved, Kili and the others near their borders. Dwarves were filth and they deserved to suffer like they had caused suffer on others.

"Oh, and Gwaen?" Thranduil called out as the guard was about to leave. Gwaen turned around and nodded, suggesting the king to continue. "Make sure only one dwarf enters my palace, and that he does not come before I ask someone to come let him in. I do not want to have fifteen wandering my halls, and not a single one before I am ready."

xx

Kili's axe came flying down onto the piece of wood and it practically shattered, small pieces of wood flying everywhere around him. He had become better over the past few days, and could now do more work in the same amount of time. Amarth was pleased by the fast change in his work and had allowed him to have short breaks now and then. Amarth was strict but he also had a 'good soul', as he sometimes said himself.

He only had four pieces of wood left before he would have another brief pause, and he looked forward to it. It was mid-day, the sun was at its highest and he had been working for hours. The wound on his palm stung as he hit another piece of wood. The cut could never heal if he didn't get a day or two off, and even though it didn't hurt badly or make anything harder, he was sick of the healer forcefully cleaning it up with water. That hurt more than the wound itself.

"That is great, Kili. You may have your rest now", Amarth called out from where he stood a couple of meters away, carving a piece of wood with his dagger. Kili nodded and laid the axe on the ground, sitting on the ground next to a huge tree to have something to lean against. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. The air was so fresh there, and now when it was not summer anymore but the end of autumn, the air was cool and easy to breathe. He had learnt to enjoy the little things by now.

He had sat there for maybe twenty seconds with his eyes closed when someone ordered Kili to stand up. He flinched awake from his slumber and stood up with a sigh. His pauses were short but not _this _short, so what was this about?

The elf who was watching over Kili greeted an approaching elf. Kili backed away a step when he saw that it was Gwaen - why wouldn't the elf just leave him alone? He has _working_ now for Mahal's sake, he was doing what the king had told him to do and hadn't even complained... much anyways. He mostly just sighed deeply now and then and rolled his eyes at some of the commands.

Kili straightened his back and tried to look as fearless as he could, but something in Gwaen's eyes told him that something unpleasant was about to happen. The way Gwaen glanced at Kili was creepy, and it immediately reminded Kili of his face when he had thrown the dwarf against the wall not many days earlier. The same lust for causing pain. The same hateful twinkle in his eyes.

The two elves exchanged a couple of words in elvish before Kili's guard turned to quickly look at Kili. His eyes were full of uncertainty.

Some more elvish, and Amarth joined them. Why couldn't they speak a language Kili could understand? It was annoying how all he could hear sometimes was elvish and not a single word of a language he knew. It made him feel more isolated, more alone. But maybe that was why they did it.

Ugh, he didn't know.

Amarth seemed to be against whatever Gwaen said, because he crossed his arms and spoke in a very aggressive way. Kili tried to remain calm, but he was starting to get a little nervous. It couldn't be anything good, not at all. He was hoping that Amarth would stay on Kili's side - if he even was on his side at all - and defend him from Gwaen since he couldn't do it himself. But it didn't take long for Amarth to sigh and nod and take a step back so Gwaen could pass him.

Kili glanced at Gwaen as he started to approach the dwarf. "Don't", Kili breathed out as Gwaen snatched his arm a little too tight, bending it in a direction it wouldn't normally bend. A hiss of pain escaped Kili's lips as he struggled to get his arm free from the elf's grip, unsuccessfully.

"_C__hen fuion_", Gwaen hissed as he twisted the arm once more, making Kili bend a little of the pain.

"What are you doing?" Kili cried out. Thankfully the elf let go of his hand, but instead of leaving Kili alone, the elf shoved Kili hard enough to make the dwarf fall over. The dwarf winced in pain as his back hit the ground with a root sticking up from it. He knew his back would be bruised, but he didn't care - all he cared about right then was the crazy glimmer in the elf's eyes.

Kili was scared for his life.

xx

Fili stared at the piece of torn garment Thranduil held in the air, carefully, not to touch the bloody parts. The familiar blue shirt was hanging in the air, stained crimson red -the color of blood- all over, long cuts piercing it in many -_too many_- places. It was a sight he thought he could never forget. His brother's shirt, the one he had been wearing, in such a condition.. it could only mean one thing.

"The patrols found it near our borders", the king explained calmly, but Fili couldn't tear his eyes off the shirt. His heart felt like it was not beating anymore. How he wished the shirt was unfamiliar, that it belonged to someone else, _anybody _else... But no. His little brother had been wearing that. The blood was Kili's blood.

His little brother was dead.

He had always wished that he would never have to use 'Kili' and 'dead' in the same sentence, but as everyone knows, you never get what you wish for.

Fili sensed curious eyes on his back but only ignored it. He knew that the guards by the doors were probably wondering what was happening, why wouldn't they be wondering? There was a random dwarf visiting their king, and twelve more outside. But Fili couldn't feel anything. He couldn't find the strength to care about the nosy elves who were staring even though it was none of their business.

He couldn't feel anything. Not rage, not sorrow, nothing. It just felt like something had been destroyed inside him, in his heart, and he felt.. empty.

And that was exactly what had happened. Somebody had destroyed something inside him by _killing_ his little brother. His reckless little brother who had been full of life and joy, and had big dreams, but most importantly, someone had killed an _innocent _being. Kili had never hurt anybody - sure, they had fought sometimes and ended up hitting each other, but it had never hurt much and they had always apologized not long after. But apart from that...

What would their mother think?

"My apologies, Fili son of Dís. I wish there was something I could do", Thranduil told, and Fili turned his head to look at the king standing tall in front of him. He blinked a few times, unable to make a sound. Wished there was something he could do? There was _nothing _anybody could do anymore. Kili was gone forever.

Suddenly it hit him harder, and he gasped. Kili was gone forever. He would _never_ see his brother again.

"I... I am sorry for disturbing you", Fili muttered, ducking his head. "I need to leave."

"I am sorry for your loss", Thranduil said with a nod. "My guards shall guide you out."

"There's no need", Fili rudely answered, just wanting to get away from the elves as soon as possible. "I'll manage on my own. Thank you. But could I have his shirt, at least? I believe you don't need it."

Thranduil nodded immediately. "It belongs to you." With that Fili snatched the shirt from the king's hands and walked away, his hands shaking as he pushed the door open.

The first thing he saw when he walked out was his uncle. Fili weakly called his name, but it was enough for Thorin to hear it, and his head snapped to his nephew's direction. "Fili! He looks unwell, Daín, come on", Thorin said and hurried to him. The kid was pale and he shook as Thorin supported him, wrapping his own arm around his nephew's small body. Daín was by their side in seconds, eyeing the youngest one in concern.

"What happened?" Thorin murmured, his heart starting to race in his chest. It couldn't have been anything good.

But before Fili could make a sound, his eyes rolled up and his legs gave up underneath his body. If it were not for Thorin, the boy would have crashed to the ground. The familiar, blood-stained blue shirt fell from Fili's arms and onto the ground as his whole body went limp on his uncle's arms, and the darkness engulfed him fully.

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><p>Review! What did you think of it?<p>

I got the elvish/dwarvish sentences from the internet so I don't know if they are correct but who even knows, anyways?  
>Gwaen says to Kili: <em>chen fuion - <em>which means 'you disgust me'.

Gwaen's a prick, as you all have probably figured out, but now you also know a little bit more why.

**But here's a question**; do you want to see more Aíthon and his life? I have a piece of text I deleted from some previous chapter but saved for later use, and it reveals something about Aíthon and his personal life. It might be useful to know something about him so you'd understand him better in the future chapters, but it's not necessary. It's up to you. So tell me; do you want more of him or nah?


	7. Chapter 7: Helpful elves

An: I acknowledge that the last chapter was mean, but I haven't really ended a chapter to a sort-of cliffhanger during this fic yet, so I needed to do that. Someone once said that cliffhangers are fun to write but horrible to read - I'm evil. I know. Sorry.

_Also a random little thing I want to share with you guys C: I got my second tattoo today - a dragon on my right arm. It's awesome! Okay, you may continue reading._

Thank you all _**so** _much for the nice reviews, you guys really are awesome! Dear Guests; I can't answer you personally but thank you for the reviews, too!

I'm sorry for the late update D: Christmas got me too busy to finish the chapter, but now it's done and it's here. And I hope you all had a good Christmas/whatever you celebrate, and have a good new year, too!

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><p>Aíthon shifted a little and stared at the sky. It was almost pitch black around them, the moon and the stars shining only little light on earth from between the cracks in the thick, dark clouds. It was peaceful there - he and Gilrín were sitting by the river where the water was already calm, not storming like at some parts of it. It seemed to be completely silent, only the distance sound of birds chirping echoed faintly in their pointy ears.<p>

Gilrín was Aíthon's 'the one', as elves referred to their loved ones. She was beautiful - her skin flawless and pale, her dark eyes and brown hair making her seem even paler, in a charming way. She was elegant and kept good care of herself, braiding thin, beautiful braids into her hair every morning to make her stand out a little. But it was her character Aíthon had fallen in love with - she cared about everyone, no matter what they were or what they had previously done, but she wasn't a naive fool. She could defend herself almost as well as Aíthon could defend himself, she could stand up for people she cared about and she knew that justice was more important than mercy.

Justice _was_ more important than mercy, Aíthon too knew it. But the dwarf had done nothing to deserve such a punishment. There was no justice and no mercy for the young dwarf, which made Aíthon sad and angry at the same time. Wandering their lands had never been a reason to take _hostages,_ so why did they have one now? He knew that the king wasn't exactly a friend of the dwarves, but this... this was too much.

He sighed. He couldn't get the dwarf out of his mind.

"Do you remember the last time we were here?" asked Gilrín suddenly, breaking the silence and Aíthon's thoughts. Her deep, dark eyes were fixed on Aíthon, as she smiled a little.

Aíthon nodded. "I remember", he muttered softly, smiling a little as well. "I also remember how you said yes."

The she-elf giggled silently, leaning in to give Aíthon a quick kiss on the tip of his nose. "I wouldn't have said yes to anyone else."

Silence fell on them as Aíthon only smiled in return, eyeing her. He could never fully understand why Gilrín had chosen him over every other elf that had wanted her - there had been many elves far more handsome and far more better at what they did than Aíthon. He was just an ordinary elf among many others. He didn't stand out. He was the guard by the doors, not even a guard they sent out to patrol. He wasn't trustworthy enough.

But oh well, he understood why the king did not trust him anymore. Some time ago, before Gilrín, he had been one of the guards with fancy, expensive suits and much power. The king had ordered Aíthon to take care of one of their prisoners. This prisoner had been a young boy, son of a man, who had been caught stealing from the elves visiting Dale.

The boy was not more than fifteen years of age, and Thranduil had had plans of keeping him locked until he was fourty - twenty-five years was merely a blink of an eye to an elf, but for a man it was almost half of their whole life. This boy had not seen anything yet, and knew nothing. He had stolen, yes, but was some food and jewelry really worth losing almost half of his whole life? No, if you asked Aíthon. And so, without thinking too much about it, he helped the child escape and told him to return to Dale and never bother elves again.

When Thranduil had found out, he had been furious. It was no doubt that Aíthon had done it, and so he was held responsible for his actions. He was lowered to a normal guard with a warning; if he ever did a mistake again, he and his loved ones would be exiled.

It wasn't a huge threat back then, when he was a lone elf, but now when he had Gilrín whose family also lived there, he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk Gilrín to be exiled - as much as he wanted to help the dwarf escape, he couldn't. He had his own family now, and his family came over everything.

For a long time they sat outside, holding hands in silence, but naturally they had to return to the palace some time later. Gilrín decided to go to bed, but Aíthon was troubled over Kili. He hadn't seen him in a few days now, was he okay? He had seen dwarves outside the palace earlier that day, and he needed to know what was all that about. If Kili was still in the palace, which he was almost certain about, Aíthon could ask him if he knew anything.

So instead of following his one to the bedroom, Aíthon chose the stairs up and hurried to the cell where Kili had previously been. He believed the dwarf would still be there, because why bother to constantly change?

As he got to the cell, he glanced in and immediately flinched at the sight. "Oh my god-" he gasped, unable to pretend calm. "What happened!?"

The young dwarf was pale and laid on the floor in a small pool of blood, curled up in a ball. Kili held his arms tightly against his stomach, and his face was like frozen into a miserable expression. The sight was horrible and heart-wrenching. "Kili! Answer me!"

When the dwarf heard his name, he opened his eyes a little. It was hard to concentrate on anything, but after a few seconds of hard trying he could recognize the elf at the door. _Aíthon, _he thought and grinned a little, even though it was barely noticeable.

Kili opened his mouth to say something, but immediately started couching. His whole body shook as he tried to draw in a breath.

"What did they do to you?" Aíthon whispered in disbelief, in near shock. "I don't have the keys, Kili, but I will get the healer. You will be okay!"

Immediately he turned around and ran away to the direction where the healer was. Maybe he couldn't free the dwarf, but he wasn't letting him die either. He would keep Kili as safe as he possibly could and do his best - he didn't owe the dwarf anything, but he _knew _that he was innocent.

And somehow he felt like Kili was his responsibility. It was stupid because after all Aíthon didn't even know him, but he couldn't help it. And well, what would he lose by helping the dwarf out? He doubted that Thranduil wanted to kill the dwarf._  
><em>

In his cell, Kili groaned in agony. The pain had faded a little already, but it still hurt every time he breathed. He felt weak and even though he had never been near to death, he supposed that it felt like this. He could feel thick blood around him, his blood, and some more slowly oozing from the wounds on his arms. The flowing had already slowed down a lot, but there had been so much blood that Kili had been sure Gwaen would bleed him out there in the forest.

It was hard to concentrate and the room felt like it was constantly collapsing on him, but never quite doing so. The floor underneath him seemed to move like water, waving under his weak body. He knew that sitting up would make it all go away, make the constant spinning stop, but he couldn't gather the strength to do so.

And suddenly, Aíthon was back with another elf Kili recognized. He shut his eyes - they had brought some kind of source of light with them and _Mahal,_ it hurt his eyes - but he could hear the door opening. Some talking. Did he hear his name? Maybe. But it could have been 'kill' as well.

Did they plan on killing him? Let him die like a stray dog?

Then he was lifted up, carefully and so tenderly that for a split second he thought that it was Fili who was carrying him. But reality hit him in a mere second, just before he lost his consciousness - he was alone in Mirkwood and Fili was Mahal-knows-where.

xx

"He seems to be a fighter."

"He surely is. I knew dwarves were stubborn but this must be the fifth time he is here, and still it looks like he will survive. If an elf went through all this.."

"I know, I know. Just make sure he doesn't die, okay?"

Some noise of things clinking against each other. Kind of a metallic sound. Why wouldn't they just shut up and leave him be? He was tired, oh so tired. And the bed was comfy - it was soft and he was warm, tucked under some kind of blanket, maybe. He could feel soft fabric against his skin. But it was too tight around his arms - why couldn't they loosen it? It made his arms ache.

"I will, Aíthon, but you've been here the whole night. Why don't you go rest? And where is Gilrín?"

A deep sigh. "Maybe I indeed shoul- he's waking up."

Kili groaned and slowly opened his eyes -he couldn't rest in such a noise-, blinking rapidly because oh Mahal, it was too bright for his eyes. Thankfully it only took a couple of seconds for them to adjust enough for him to fully open them. The first thing he saw was Aíthon and a wide grin on his face. Next to his head came the healer's, a concerned look on his face.

Where was he? Why was the healer in there, wherever he was?

Maybe Kili had a puzzled look on his face or something of the kind, because Aíthon's face softened into a caring but concerned smile. "How are you feeling?"

_Thirsty, _was the first thing that popped up into Kili's mind. His throat felt like he had never even heard of water, and a mug full of cold water sounded better than anything in the world to him. He opened his mouth and whispered out the word 'water', his voice hoarse. Aíthon immediately nodded and disappeared from Kili's vision.

The dwarf closed his eyes for a moment until he heard Aíthon returning. The healer didn't speak, but Kili could hear him walking around the room and opening drawers somewhere a bit further away.

"Here's water for you", Aíthon said as he came back, and Kili opened his eyes to look at the elf. "Can you sit up? You don't want to spill the water on the bandages."

Kili blinked in confusion. Bandages?

Turning his head to look at his arms, he saw them. Clean, white bandages were covering his arms and wrists, and suddenly he remembered what had happened. Gwaen, the forest, his shirt, Gwaen just dumping him into the cell... he remembered everything except how he had somehow gotten into a room that was _not _his cell.

Instead of telling Aíthon - Kili was sure his voice couldn't bear that much talking yet -, he obeyed and slowly sat up. His bed was located next to a wall, so Kili turned so he could lean against it. As he took the drink from the elf he eyed the room, recognizing it as the Healer's room. There, on the other side of the room was the chair where he had sat while the Healer had cleaned the wound on his palm many times.

Aíthon eyed the dwarf carefully as he drank with pleasure. "Better?"

"Yeah", Kili replied, his throat feeling much better already. Water always seemed to do miracles. "How am I here?"

"I found you", Aíthon said with a shrug like it wasn't a big deal. And well, to him finding the dwarf wasn't a huge thing, it was much of a bigger deal that the young one was alive and almost well. When they had brought Kili there, he had been weak and unconscious. His heart had been beating too fast, the healer had told, and that his body had been in shock.

"And?" the dwarf asked, wanting to hear the whole story. "What happened? Am I okay?"

"We wish you could tell us what happened before Aíthon found you", the healer commented from where he stood on the other side of the room. Kili turned to look at the healer. He had never heard the healer's name, and to be honest, Kili wasn't even sure if it was a woman or a man.

Kili nodded a little, careful not to make his head spin. He felt weak and lightheaded, and would probably crash down if he tried to stand on his own feet. Leaning against the wall like a limp rag felt perfect.

And so he told the two elves about what had happened. He told how he had struggled and tried to get a upper hand, but naturally Gwaen won, strangling Kili long enough to make him give up because of the lack of air.

"Did he really?" Aíthon asked, looking at Kili in disbelief. He had always known that Gwaen strongly disliked dwarves, but this?

Kili nodded and continued. Gwaen had cut through Kili's shirt with his dagger and torn it off. He mutilated the shirt as Kili was just beginning to realize what was going on, but quickly Gwaen was back at Kili. He used his dagger to cut Kili's arms, creating wounds deep enough to make a lot of blood come out. Then the elf used to blood to stain the shirt.

The healer looked furious, and Kili was quite surprised, to be honest. He had thought that the healer disliked him, but maybe he had been wrong, then.

"Why do a thing like that for no important reason? He could've gotten blood without hurting you so badly! Now I have even less resources to use on the elves, who are my main priority!" the healer stormed around the room, glaring at the ground as if that was the reason for his great loss of resources.

_Oh_.

"Come on, Ídhon. He's here as well, and not any less important than we are", Aíthon sighed, shooting a glance at the healer. So the healer's name was Ídhon.

Kili wanted to disappear - it was kind of embarrassing. He knew he was a burden to many of the elves, if not all, _but_ on the other hand, he didn't even want to be there. He was being kept as a hostage and if the elves had a problem with it, they could only blame their dear king Thranduil. And Gwaen - if it weren't for Gwaen and his violent nature, Kili wouldn't be there, wasting the healer's resources.

"Maybe from your perspective", Ídhon sighed and crossed his arms, quickly looking at Kili before focusing on Aíthon again. "But I am a healer and I will help everyone. It's not up to me."

Aíthon nodded, rolling his eyes as he turned his head back to Kili. "Ídhon, if you want to rest, go ahead. I'll stay here with him."

For a second Ídhon hesitated, but then agreed. He had been up the whole night, keeping an eye on Kili's breathing and the wounds. He really could use some rest, and he trusted Aíthon enough to come get him if something did happen. So he left with a thank you and so it was only Aíthon and Kili.

They sat in an awkward silence for a short moment, Kili finishing his water and Aíthon finding himself a chair so sit on. When they were both done, Kili opened his mouth, eyeing the elf a little apologetically. "I think I will go back to sleep, too. Is it okay?"

"More than okay", Aíthon said with a quick laughter. "And hey, don't mind Ídhon. He's been a little uptight for the last couple of days, since his son Thawion left out patrolling for the first time. He has not returned yet, and because it is his first time, Ídhon is worried. It's quite normal even if a little obnoxious. It's nothing personal, believe me."

Kili nodded, knowing how Ídhon must feel. "I remember when me and my brother left Ered Luin for the first time. Our mother was so worried, even though we were old enough and had everything we needed with us. When we came back, she gave us this huge lecture on how to not worry her to death.. and all of that because we returned one day later than we were supposed to." The dwarf laughed a little, remembering the embarrassment on Fili's face during the lecture.

Suddenly Aíthon remembered why he had gone to look for Kili at the first place - the dwarves! He had completely forgotten about them because of all the worrying over Kili. Maybe he could ask now.

"Can you stay awake for a little longer?" asked Aíthon, looking forward to some sleep as well but wanting some answers too. The dwarf nodded, so Aíthon continued. "I saw some dwarves outside our palace yesterday,three dressed in regular dwarvish clothing,and maybe ten guards.. I was just wondering if you knew what that was about?"


	8. Chapter 8: Dwarves outside the palace

An: Sorry for updating this late! I had some trouble with stuff and yeah. But here this is now.

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><p>He had been away for two days. <em>Two<em> days, and when he came back, he was asked to see his father. What on Middle-Earth could have happened during those two days? Because when a guard tells that 'we have been waiting for you to return, the king wants to see you', something has happened.

The prince had started to find it amusing how every time he was gone for more than few hours, something had happened. It was like they couldn't handle anything without his presence. Last time he had been away for a week and when he had returned, three of their guards had been bitten by the spiders, two of them dying before reaching the palace. Couple of months before that he had been away for a day and a half, and when he came back, one of the women had given birth to triplets.

Legolas paced around the main hall where the door to his father's room was located. He hated waiting and these last few days had been full of just sitting around and waiting, so he would have liked to just go in already, but naturally, he couldn't. There were some normal guards inside now and Gwaen had strictly told him _not _to go in before the guards came out.

After a time that felt like hours but was probably more like ten to fifteen minutes, the guards started to walk out of the room, and so Legolas quickly slipped in. He looked at Thranduil who, once again, sat on his throne, looking rather bored.

"You asked to see me?" Legolas more stated than asked, as he started to walk towards his father.

"Yes, I did", Thranduil replied and waited for Legolas to stand in front of him before continuing. He noticed that his son's outfit was muddy from places, but decided to ignore it for the moment. It wasn't very exquisite for a prince to walk around in dirty clothing, but there were topics more urgent than that, and they needed to be discussed first. "I believe you do not know of this yet, as you have been away, and I feel the responsibility to inform you of it. Dwarves, who turned out to be our prisoner's relatives, came here yesterday, looking for him."

Some part of Legolas was surprised, but the other, bigger part of him knew that this had been only a matter of time. "What happened? Is Kili still here?"

"He is here, yes", Thranduil said, nodding slowly. "There is no reason for me to let him go."

"There isn't exactly a reason for you to hold him here, either", Legolas said, staring at his father. He had done some thinking over the last few days, and he had started to believe that the dwarf being held there was injustice. Maybe some kind of a warning would have been enough. He also knew that he probably shouldn't have said that, but he had said it anyways.

Thranduil raised his head a little, eyeing Legolas with his icy, blue eyes. "You surely remember the blonde dwarf who attacked the guards in the forest some time ago. He is our prisoner's _brother_. He was one of the dwarves who visited my palace, but only he came in. I do not know who the others outside were, but I am not interested, either."

Legolas had already forgotten the whole thing with the other dwarf, but now everything came back to his mind. But how did this fact have anything to do with Kili still being with them and not with his family? And why _wasn't_ he with his family? Naturally, wanting some answers, he asked about it.

"Keeping the dwarf here will not only serve as a punishment for him for walking on our lands and lying to me, but it will also be a punishment for the other dwarf as well. We tricked him into thinking his brother is dead, which was devastating for him. He committed a crime by attacking and harming my guards, and he needed to answer for it. And there is no better punishment than that", Thranduil calmly explained, eyeing his son for some kind of reaction.

And honestly, Legolas was quite speechless. He knew the dwarves _both_ needed to be punished, but was this maybe too.. much? Because, after all the dwarves hadn't killed anyone, nor had they done something as bad. Another one had wandered their lands and another had attacked a few guards while looking for his brother. Attacking hadn't been a wise thing to do, but none of the elves had been badly hurt. Some wounds here and there, some bruising.

Pushing his doubts away -he wasn't the king after all, and whatever he did would not change his father's mind- Legolas nodded. "Where is the dwarf now?"

"Which one do you mean?" the king asked, narrowing his eyes. He had seen a flash of hesitation in Legolas, which he did not like. Was his son, his own _son_, allying with the dwarves? Becoming a friend of the dwarf? He could not allow it - any other race was fine, but he couldn't let his son be a friend with a someone so greedy and selfish as a dwarf. It couldn't end well, and he didn't wish his son to experience anything like that.

"Both", Legolas sighed, rolling his eyes as he shifted on his feet. "I will check on Kili later today, if you only allow it."

"I do not know of the blonde dwarf, Fili, but he isn't on our lands anymore. The whereabouts of Kili you have to ask from Gwaen", Thranduil told. "You may check on him, but do not befriend with the dwarf, Legolas", his father added with a warning tone, as if befriending a dwarf was the most horrific thing Legolas could ever do.

Legolas scoffed. "Now why would I do that, father? But don't worry, it is not my intention."

Thranduil nodded. "Very well."

With all the new information Legolas left the king's room, now confused and unsure. His mind was full of _on the other hand_s and he didn't like it.

xx

Many emotions flashed inside of him as soon as Aíthon finished the first sentence. _I saw some dwarves outside the palace yesterday, three dressed in regular dwarvish clothing, and maybe ten guards-_

First came confusion. How could there be dwarves? Who? Why was Aíthon telling him this, there couldn't possibly be dwarves outside the palace... why?

The confusion lasted no more than a couple of seconds, if even that much. He had been there for ten nights - well, eleven now - which was more than enough for Fili to return to the Iron Hills and come back with Thorin and Daín. The dwarves must have been _them_.. right?

"Three in regular clothing", Kili muttered, ducking his head. Fili, his uncle, Daín. It could have been nobody else. But he was still here, sitting on a bed in healer's room, and not with them, even though they had been there. That only meant one thing. Thranduil or some others had sent them away, or worse.

_No._

Then came the anger, and Kili found it hard to control himself. His heart sped up in his chest as his head snapped up. "They were my family! They were here! For Mahal's sake, Aíthon, what did the elves do to them?"

"As far as I know, nothing was done to them", Aíthon quickly said, furrowing his brows. "Calm down. I haven't heard that anybody here has killed fifteen dwarves."

"So they must've been sent away", Kili breathed out, eyeing Aíthon with wide eyes. "Thranduil must have lied to them!"

"That is a possibility", the elf replied calmly. "So you knew nothing of them?"

"No!" Kili almost yelled, shaking his head. "Or well, I know who they were but I didn't know they were here! This must explain my shirt, as well", he continued yelling, leaning forward on his bed, feeling like he could hit someone really hard. How could they do that? Take his shirt like that, stain it with his blood and-

had they shown it to his family?

It was the only rational explanation. What else would Gwaen do with a shirt from a dwarf, stained with blood and full of holes? Nothing. Nothing expect show it to Fili, Daín and Thorin and make them believe Kili was dead.

And just like that, the reality hit him, and with that came grief. Fili had come to his rescue, but the elves had lied to him and now he was gone and wouldn't come back. Fili thought his little brother was dead - hell, Thorin thought his sister's son was dead, and Dís would soon believe her _son _was dead - and there was no thought more horrible than that. And suddenly there was no power left in Kili's body; no more will to fight. What he had promised to himself in the cell just a couple of nights before didn't matter anymore - he had promised not to give up, but he had no one. Fili wouldn't find him and he couldn't do this all by himself.

"Come on", Aíthon said after watching the dwarf suffer for a moment. He had been unsure of what to say but he knew he needed to say something. He had told Kili about the dwarves, and he needed to make it better. "I thought you were a fighter."

"I was, but there is no point now, is there? I'm not able to do this on my own, and the only help I ever had and will ever have thinks I'm dead, is gone and won't come back. Even if I was a fighter, what is there left for me to do?"

The elf sighed deeply, hanging his head as he tried to come up with a reply. He knew what he wanted to say but couldn't put it into words. Why had he mentioned the dwarves? "You cannot know that for sure", Aíthon said as he couldn't think of anything better. "Nobody has said to you that 'yes, your brother thinks you're dead and he won't come back'. And even if he wasn't coming back, I mean.. I don't know you. But still, you don't come off as a dwarf who just gives up. And so what if your brother isn't coming back? That doesn't mean you will be here until the day you die. Who knows, king Thranduil himself might release you some beautiful day."

"Thanks, but you can't possibly assume me to believe that", Kili told the elf with an unhappy grin, but the other hand, Aíthon's words made sense. He couldn't depend on Fili every time he got in trouble, there would be times when he would need to survive on his own, without the assistance of his brother. This was one of these times, Kili realized. Now it was _only_ up to Kili if he would get his freedom back or not.

Aíthon saw the slight change for better in Kili's eyes, and grinned widely. "See? Things aren't that bad after all."

As Kili was just replying, the door to the healer's room swung open and the blonde-haired prince of Mirkwood stepped in. Aíthon quickly stood up and bowed a little, Legolas motioning him to sit back down as he walked up to where the two others were. "No need now, Aíthon. I'm not here as your prince - I'm simply curious about the dwarves outside, and I was hoping you could enlighten me about them", he told, now looking at Kili.

"Why would I tell you anything?" Kili spat, sitting up more straight, receiving a glare from both of the elves. Kili just didn't trust Legolas, not in the slightest. He was certain that everything he did were bad intentions hidden behind a seemingly selfless words. No, he wouldn't make a fool of himself by trusting Legolas and his pretty elvish face. He was the _prince, _same cold blood with king Thranduil.

Aíthon groaned silently, glancing at Legolas as his mouth drew into a thin line. "You seem to forget that I am not here to hurt you. I'm here to do the exact opposite, to be fully honest with you", the prince of Mirkwood told Kili with a serious expression. "Why are you so unable to trust me?"

This caused Kili to chuckle. "Me, trusting you? You are the son of the great king Thranduil, who is the reason I am here and treated like I am nothing more than a piece of filth? There is no reason I should trust you", he continued laughing. "_Menu shirumund, men khalamdul azbadu_", he added in a sarcastic tone.

The glare he received now was even more intense than it had previously been, most likely because neither of the elves could understand what he had just said but knew that it was an insult. It amused Kili, how he could insult them without them understanding what he had just said. _You are beardless, my elven lady _was a great affront for Legolas, if you asked Kili. Because let's be honest for a second - he kinda looked like an elf-maiden.

But then again, all of the elves looked like women.

"Then, I believe, there is no reason for me to be kind towards you, dwarf", Legolas replied in the coldest way he could pull off without sounding ridiculous. "Be thankful that we will not give you any further punishments without a reason. My father seems to think that your brother believing you are dead is punishment enough for you both.."

The words hit Kili like a knife, but he couldn't let the emotions take over. If he wanted to get back home, he needed to be ready for anything, he needed to be strong. Crying over Fili wouldn't help - if he ever wanted to see Fili again and tell him that he was okay and certainly not _dead_, he would have to escape. That would only work if he actually did something instead of weeping over his situation - or Fili's feeling, for that matter.

"Only if my father wasn't against it, I would figure out a good punishment to deal with your arrogance", Legolas continued, eyeing Kili from where he stood near the bed. It was an empty threat, and king Thranduil had never told them not to punish Kili, but Legolas was annoyed by the dwarf's behavior and well, whatever worked. But the dwarf could only shrug.

"As you said, luckily you don't have the permission to do so. If you have nothing else to say, please leave", Kili told the prince, smiling a little. "I'm still tired because of the loss of blood your head of the guard resulted. You really should mention to him how in order to draw blood, you don't have to mutilate the person's arms. Single, clean cut would probably cause the same. Just to, you know, cause less suffering and save some bandages."

Legolas nodded and then turned to Aíthon, asking him something in Sindarin. Kili cringed, rolling his eyes. He hated it when the elves used elvish, because he could never know what they were plotting. But trusting Aíthon enough not to let Legolas harm him - too badly anyways - he relaxed against the wall. Whatever they discussed probably wasn't that interesting anyways.

From the corner of his eye Kili could see how Aíthon glanced at him, quickly focusing on the prince again. The guard nodded, turning to Kili again. "Let me check your wounds, Kili."

"Eh", Kili muttered, eyeing the bandages. Some blood had come up from the wounds, staining the bandages a little. "Why?"

"I will have to leave for a moment to talk about where we will keep you the time your wounds heal and while you are too weak to work, and I want to make sure the wounds are okay, so you won't catch any bad infections or any of the kind", Aíthon calmly explained, staring at Kili like he should behave himself or Aíthon wouldn't be responsible of the outcome.

Kili could only nod, not wanting to be mean to Aíthon, but not really agreeing with the idea anyways. The wounds really ached, and he didn't want anyone poking at them. How many wounds there were, he didn't know, but he remembered Gwaen slashing quite a few times, so there had to be many.

Carefully Aíthon undid the bandages, softly not to hurt the dwarf, but in just a moment the bandages were both gone. A brutal sight opened before Kili - his arms were red and sore and full of all kinds of wounds, crisscrossing his wrists and arms like some wild animal had attacked him. There wasn't that much blood, but the skin had dyed red from many places for some reason.

The young dwarf could see Legolas eyeing the wounds in curiosity. Something flashed in the prince's eyes - maybe it was pity, Kili wasn't sure, but that 'something' felt positive. Still, Kili had decided not to trust him and that was a promise he would keep. One single look didn't change the fact that Legolas only did things to benefit himself and his father, most probably.

"They look a lot better than they did when I found you", Aíthon said, breaking the silence. "I saw Ídhon do this many times last night, so I know how to clean and put the bandage on again."

Kili bit his lip not to hiss of pain as Aíthon poured some liquid over the wounds. It stung a lot, like a burning sensation, but it was bearable. He watched as Aíthon pulled out a smaller piece of fabric and gently wiped some of the liquid away, careful over the wounds. Kili glanced up at Legolas, who eyed the process without blinking an eye.

"This might hurt, because I need to pull the bandage tight enough so it will cut the rest of the bleeding", Aíthon told Kili, not looking at him as he spoke. Kili nodded, letting his head fall against the wall. _Whatever it takes to make it heal faster_, he told himself and took a deep breath.

Soon Aíthon was done with both of his arms and stood up. "There. I will be gone for a few hours, which you should spend on sleeping and resting. I will not lock the door as you are not held as a prisoner in this room, but I don't suggest that you move anywhere. You're still too weak."

"I know, I can feel it myself", Kili grinned, completely ignoring the stare coming from Legolas' direction. "Have fun with whatever you are going to do."

As the elves left, Kili sighed deeply. He couldn't stop thinking about Fili and how he must have reacted. He had no idea how he had reacted, if Kili was being totally honest, because neither of them had encountered death before. But he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know Fili's reaction, or anyone's, for that matter. The broken faces, broken hearts, tears.. he would have time to think about those when he was home with them. For now, he needed to focus on other things.

So when Kili lied down, he tried to keep his mind off Fili, his mother and Thorin... failing. But in no time he found out that happy memories actually made him feel a little better, a little less lonely. And with those memories he fell asleep quickly, the happy memories soon turning into a nightmare.

_No!_

He woke up covered in sweat, his heart beating rabidly in his chest. He wasn't sure how long he had slept, but Aíthon wasn't there, so it couldn't have been too long. Fili's desperate cries still echoed in his ears as he sat up, panting as if he had just ran miles straight. He wanted home. He wanted to meet his family and tell them he was okay, hug them for eternity and just sleep it all off, eat well and just go back to how everything had been just a couple of weeks earlier.

"I won't be here for long", Kili muttered, as if saying it out loud was more real than just thinking about it. "I will leave soon, and I will return home, and nobody can stop me from doing that. Not Gwaen, not Legolas, not king Thranduil. _I will go home soon._"

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><p>see, no cliffhangers this time? reviews are love anyways :3<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: In the cave

An: I didn't mean to publish this chapter this soon, but then I figured that what the hell, I've written so much during this past week that I have no worries. So here you go. This is a very short chapter, and I didn't even intend on writing this at first, but then decided to write it anyways. I thought you guys might want to hear this. :p

Also - anyone thinking that this fic isn't moving forward, don't be worried. Stuff will start to happen soon enough.

This chapter includes a lot of angst. You have been warned

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><p>It was snowing quite hard, but thankfully it wasn't windy or too cold. It had been two weeks since they left Mirkwood, and two and half weeks since Fili had learnt that his little brother..<p>

He refused to think about it. Over the past two weeks he had tried to conceal it, deny it, forget it. Anything that made him forget the stinging pain in his chest, just around his heart, and the empty feeling. But the empty feeling wouldn't leave no matter what he did. It was like something had been ripped away from him, and well, that was what had happened.

The past two weeks had been silent. Fili rarely spoke, just like Thorin. Fili knew that his uncle was hurting a lot too, but wouldn't let it show through his hard shell - Thorin had seen a lot of death already. He knew how to suffocate it.

Fili, on the other hand? Not so much. Oh how he wished he could just hug his brother even once more, tell him how important he was to Fili and let him know that no matter what, Fili would stay by his side. Things he hadn't done in years. Now he wished he had done them more often. But wasn't it always like that? You never knew what you had until you lost it. He hadn't understood it before, but now he did. And he didn't want to.

He was grieving, but he was also angry. Angry at whoever had ended his brother's life way too soon, angry at the elves for not helping Kili, angry at Thorin for just sitting in silence, angry at himself. It was just so painful he couldn't help it. They still had a long, long way before they would reach Ered Luin and he did not look forward to it. Usually their travels were fun and full of happy songs and jokes, making it seem like a holiday, but now.. not so much. Not with the weight of his little brother's death on his shoulders.

It was his fault. Mostly, at least. He had been _there, _so close to his brother but still unable to help. He should have known that something would happen. He always did, before anything happened! This cold feeling.. but he had felt nothing this time, when he really should have. He had been there for Mahal's sake!

All the emotions he was feeling... there were no words to describe them all. Too many emotions were flashing inside of him at the same time, making Fili feel lost. He had always thought that when you lost someone important, it would hurt. And well, sure it did hurt, it hurt _a lot_, but it was so much more than only that. He just wanted it all to go away.

He was sitting on the ground. They had found a cave to sleep in, since they couldn't sleep outside without waking up in the morning buried deep under the heavy snow. They had put up a fire to keep them a bit warmer and also to light the dark cave. Fili kept staring at the dancing fire like he had for the past week or so. He couldn't cry anymore, so instead he blankly stared at the fire rattling between him and his uncle.

For a moment longer he sat there, legs crossed, until Thorin opened his mouth for the first time in hours. "You should sleep, Fili. We need to wake up early tomorrow." His voice was a little bit raspier than normally, which attracted Fili's attention. He turned his head to look at Thorin, seeing that his cheeks were red and eyes watering. Was he crying?

As Thorin saw Fili's empty eyes, he just couldn't control himself anymore. He had wanted to hug Fili so many times, but he had been afraid that mourning his lost nephew would make it true. They had searched the woods for many days. Four or five, if he recalled correctly, but had found nothing except some blood near the entrance. They couldn't tell whose blood it was, but they had asked the head of the guard, who had told them that that was where he found the shirt.

There was no way Kili could be alive, and now Thorin was ready to admit it. As he eyed the broken look on Fili's face, he wanted nothing more than to erase it and make it all well - it hurt him to see Fili like that, but knew that there was nothing he could do to make him feel better. Only time would help.

But it didn't mean that he wouldn't try.

"There is nothing you could have done", Thorin told his older nephew, meeting his eyes. He got up on his feet and walked around the fire, sitting down next to Fili. "You must know it."

"I was there, Thorin", Fili muttered, ducking his head. He could feel Thorin's eyes on him. "I don't.. I should have known something would happen."

"How would have you been able to know that?" Thorin asked, running his hands through his hair. "You can never know when someone will pass. It happens when it happens, when Mahal wants it to. There is nothing we can do about it. Death is inevitable, Fili, and it hurts a lot every time. You can't blame yourself for it, because you weren't his babysitter. You weren't his father or his guard, and you aren't responsible for what happened."

Fili couldn't answer, so silence fell on them. Somewhere deep inside Fili knew Thorin was right, but he couldn't help feeling that way. He hadn't lost anyone that important to him before, and he could only keep thinking 'I should have been up with him', 'I shouldn't have let him wander off alone' and 'if only I had done something, he'd still be alive'. Kili was gone, and he wouldn't come back.

A sigh escaped Thorin's lips. "I know what it's like to lose a brother. It's horrible, but you can get through it because you have to."

It was hard to keep his voice from breaking. He had lost so many friends and family members already, that Fili, Kili and Dís had been the only ones left. Naturally Daín had been by his side since they were kids, but he lived half a world away. It wasn't the same.

And of those few people he had lost one, again. As if his father, grandfather, brother and many friends hadn't been enough. How much did Mahal want from him?

"I want to sleep", Fili muttered and slowly settled on the ground, laying his head on his bag he used as a pillow. Thorin nodded, patting Fili on his legs which lay near Thorin's own.

"Good idea."

For a moment longer Thorin sat on the ground, looking at nowhere in particular. It took a few minutes for Fili to fall asleep - he had been exhausted, mentally _and _physically - and as Thorin heard Fili's not-so-silent snoring, he dared to get up and go back to his own side. What was he going to tell Dís?


	10. Chapter 10: Spring

An: I'm sorry this took so long for me to publish. I just got sucked into the world of Sons of Anarchy, and _completely _forgot about this. :( sorry!

This chapter was really hard to write, mainly because I didn't know how to jump over longer periods of time but not make it seem rushed. But anyways, I hope I succeeded! This is also a little longer chapter C: I hope you like it!

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><p>Time seemed to have frozen like the scenery outside. Every day was like the previous, and it made it harder for Kili to try and remember how long he had been there. If he really concentrated, he could estimate the time, but he could never be sure.<p>

Kili had been denied from scratching the walls - one of the guards had seen the lines from Kili's game he had played in the beginning, scratching a line into the wall if he guessed the hair color of the coming elf correctly - but Kili, loving to break some rules, did it anyways. He estimated the time he had spent there, which was around two months, and then continued to make a new line every evening he was alone in his cell. That way he could keep up with the days better.

Slowly the ice outside started to melt and there were more lines than Kili would have imagined. Every night he drew another one, days turning into weeks and weeks into months, and soon he had been there for four months. When it reached five, most of the snow was gone, it was actually warm outside and Kili felt empty.

Nothing major had happened in a long while. Kili's injuries were all healed, even though the broken wrist he had suffered in the hands of Gwaen a little less than a month ago was still sore and not completely okay. He knew that Fili was probably home already, or if not yet, he would soon be. He felt alone, more alone and isolated than ever.

He had tried to escape three times, failing every time. The first time, nothing much had happened, thanks to Aíthon. He had caught Kili but instead of letting him escape, he had returned Kili to his cell because there had been elves who saw Aíthon with Kili. During the second time Legolas pretty much saved him from Gwaen and from violence - but during the third time there had been nobody to help him. Gwaen had caught him in the passageway that led out, and in the darkness of that corridor Gwaen had decided to give Kili a lesson he wouldn't forget.

It hadn't been too bad, in the end. Kili had lost his consciousness soon, and when he woke up, he had been alone in his cell again.

Alone was the perfect word to describe the way he felt. He was utterly alone, and he slowly started to believe that there was no way he could ever return home.

xx

Kili was back to his first job outside, cutting large pieces of wood into smaller ones. After working in the lower halls in the ash and dirt for the whole, long winter, Kili was happy to be back outside, even if this work required more strength. He was just about to swing his axe down, when Legolas' voice echoed out behind him. "Would you mind stopping for a while?" he asked, his voice polite and somehow really nice. Kili looked at the prince in question, but nodded, hitting the axe into the ground, instead of the wood.

"Sure. Why?"

"I have something to discuss with you", Legolas answered shortly, eyeing Kili. "Come with me."

Kili nodded again and followed the elf away from the guards and Amarth. It was a bright day, even if a bit chilly, but it was definitely spring and every day was warmer than the previous. Kili had heard Amarth talk about how in a few weeks it would probably be warm enough to use lighter clothes.

"What is it? Why can't we talk where the others are?" Kili asked, staring at Legolas as soon as they stopped. "What have I done wrong this time?"

A grin spread on the prince's lips. "As you know, dwarf, I'm in charge of you. It is my task to make sure you will not escape, and when I'm gone, it is Gwaen who takes over that task. But now my father has brought up an idea, and even if it is a good one, it brings up a problem."

"Would you mind being a little clearer?" Kili rolled his eyes. "I can't understand any of that. What idea, what problem, and what has that to do with me?"

"If you could just listen", Legolas sighed. "Me, along with a couple of other elves, including Gwaen, will have to leave the palace for a week or two. It is nothing more than a travel around our borders to see if everything is like it should. We have heard rumors that goblins are moving close, and my father wants us to make sure they will not come to our lands. This is where the problem arises. If both of us, Gwaen and I, are there, who is going to look you will not escape? My father doesn't trust anybody else to look after you after your two attempts."

Kili snorted, about to correct Legolas how he had actually tried three times, but then remembered how Aíthon hadn't told anyone about his first attempt. So, instead he said, "I am not a child, you know. I need nobody to look after me."

"After behaving the way you did, we cannot trust you" Legolas said, slight amusement audible in his tone. "How old even are you? 50?"

"Excuse you, I am no dwarfling", Kili said with a huff. "I am 73."

Legolas didn't look very impressed, and Kili supposed it was because elves were practically immortal. To them 73 was pretty much nothing. He didn't know a lot about elves and their aging, but he believed that 73 years olf elf was still a child. That would have made sense - Aíthon didn't seem old, and a couple months back he had told Kili that his age was 576 years. Anything rarely made Kili stop and think about how amazing some things were, but that did.

"We don't care about your age", Legolas said, thinking that why lie, shrugging a little. "We judge you by your actions, and they haven't been really great lately. And it is not up to me to decide, anyways."

"It is up to your father. I know", Kili replied in an uninterested voice. He had grown to not _totally_ hate the prince, but he didn't like him. It was more like Kili did put up with Legolas and could behave around him, but that didn't come automatically. _Could he just skip the blabbering and go to the point?_ Kili wondered in annoyance. He had a good pile of wood to cut before he got any food and he was starving.

Legolas nodded, letting out a heavy breath. "Despite that my father does not want to give the task of watching over you to other guards, I have talked with many of them. They were all hesitant to take the responsibility of watching over you, so I decided that you will come with us. It causes nobody harm."

As the elf finished talking, Kili felt suspicious. Legolas had never been a threat to him -quite the opposite, actually- but this didn't feel very honest. He really doubted that all of the guards were 'hesitant' to be his guard for a week or two, he hadn't caused that much trouble, had he? Maybe this was some kind of twisted plot that came from Gwaen. It was the most reasonable explanation.

"I won't come", Kili said in a tight voice. They couldn't just push him around, right? "I refuse to come. I don't trust you and that your intentions are as pure as you make them seem. Tell your father that", he continued, turning around and starting to walk towards Amarth and the guard, towards his working place.

It took Legolas two long steps to reach the dwarf. "Stop right now, if you want to eat today. I am not done yet."

With a deep, annoyed sigh Kili spun around to face the elf again. He gritted his teeth as Legolas eyed the dwarf, visibly annoyed as well, but a lot calmer than Kili. "I told you my opinion on the matter. I am not coming", Kili repeated. "Gwaen must have something to do with this. I think you must understand how I'd rather not die yet. I've been close a few times already, thanks to him."

"I understand that, but Gwaen has nothing to do with this. He knows nothing of my plans to take you with us. He won't lay a finger on you while we are on move - not if you don't give him a reason to."

"I have never given him a reason!" Kili almost yelled, taking a step back, knowing that what he just said wasn't entirely true, but so what? "You saw my broken wrist, right? I did nothing to encourage him to break it. He just did it, because he could." He was ashamed to admit it, but he was scared of the chief of the guard. So many times he had been attacked by Gwaen for no reason at all -or for little reason whatsoever. He knew Durins never turned away from a fight but in a situation like that.. no. He was scared of Gwaen and wanted to avoid him as much as possible.

"Unfortunate", Legolas said calmly. "But you are coming. I will not force the burden of looking after you on an elf who does not want it. End of discussion, you may continue working. Oh, and we will leave tomorrow at sunrise."

xx

Back in his cell, Kili groaned. He was starving and the hunger was starting to turn into nausea. _It's dinnertime soon_, Kili kept telling himself. _Then I'll get food. Ugh._

Indeed, not long after that, an elf approached Kili's cell and opened the door, stepping inside. Kili looked at the comer, and recognized the elf as one of the guards who Aíthon worked with, but couldn't remember his name.

"Thanks", Kili muttered as the elf handed Kili his plate. Without a word the guard left, and Kili dug into his food. It was the same stuff as yesterday, tasteless leaves and some kind of vegetables, but even though Kili disliked it, it was food and filled his empty stomach nicely. He knew he had lost a little weight during the months he had spent there, because his trousers had become a little baggy on him. It didn't matter to him, but in his mind he went through these scenarios where he returned home and his mother would have a heart attack because he had become so skinny, and Fili would joke about how much of an elf he looked like.

Kili had barely finished eating when a voice echoed from behind the bars and Kili jumped up from his bed in surprise. A soft laughter followed, and Kili glanced at the comer, who turned out to be Aíthon. "Did I scare you?"

"Nah", Kili replied, his heart bounding in his chest. "Not at all."

"Liar", Aíthon giggled and shook his head a little. "Anyways, I heard that you are leaving soon, and thought to come wish you a good luck out there."

Kili raised his other eyebrow at the elf. "It's not like I won't come back, right?"

"What? No", Aíthon quickly said. "Just that it's always not so easy to travel with a group of guards. It's safe but it can be really frustrating, believe me, I know. And with Gwaen there.. you'll need some luck, for sure. Although I think Legolas will keep you from bigger harms. I won't be able to see you tomorrow, so I came now."

Nodding, Kili shifted on his feet. He knew there was nothing he could do to get to stay. "Yeah. Thanks."

Silence fell on them. Kili didn't have much to say, really, and neither did Aíthon. But it seemed like Aíthon was in no hurry to anywhere, so after a few awkward seconds, Kili opened his mouth. "If you are not in hurry.."

Aíthon grinned and shook his head. "I am not, to be honest. Would you like some company?" His tone was as pleasant as always, friendly and safe, somehow. Kili wasn't sure why Aíthon was always so nice to him, but he didn't even care to know, as long as Aíthon just stayed as he was.

"Sure", Kili answered, eyeing Aíthon. He still thought that Aíthon's almost invisible eyebrows looked funny, and he couldn't help glancing at them every once in a while.

"Could you tell me what your home is like? And your family?" Aíthon asked, genuinely interested. They had never spoken about their personal lives, but they had known each other for months now, so why not.

Aíthon had wanted to ask for a longer while already, but had never remembered to do so. He knew where the dwarf was from, but that was all he knew besides his age and name, and he really wanted to know more. It was a good way to waste some time, as well.

A little surprised, Kili nodded, happy that he asked. Aíthon was the only elf he felt like he could talk to about his life, because somehow he trusted Aíthon a lot. He wouldn't mention Thorin, though, for everybody's sake. If the elves knew he was the line of Durin.. Kili knew well that king Thranduil and his uncle were practically enemies, and if Thranduil heard about Kili's family, nothing good would come of it.

So Kili told - he told how he and his brother spent most of their days working to earn money, or when they had no work, they just relaxed. Or trained. He told Aíthon how Fili was great with swords and used them like they were a part of his hand, and how he himself wasn't as good, but that using a bow was his unique skill. He also told how their mother was more of a warrior than a mother, but that she was the best mother anybody could hope for. He described their home and their yard, and a little bit of the village, and for a moment he completely forgot his situation.

xx

The morning came way too quickly.

Kili was woken up by a strict voice telling him to get up. It was not a pleasant way to wake up, but he was used to it by now, and so Kili slowly dragged himself up from the bed and stared at the elf, trying to hold back a yawn. The elf held a pile of clothes in his hands, grey and brown pieces of clothing in a quite small mess.

"Prince Legolas had me take these to you", the elf said and handed them to Kili through the bars. "We are leaving soon, so you need to change your clothes. Those you are wearing aren't suitable for traveling."

"I won't take my clothes off in front of you", Kili hissed with a cold glare he had learnt from the elves, holding the clothes close to his body. "Turn around."

It seemed like the elf wasn't really excited to see Kili half-naked either, because he immediately turned around. Kili grinned to himself as he looked at the clothes - a shirt just his size caught his attention first. It was mostly grey but it had brown sleeves, and it looked like it was made for elflings. Kili just shrugged - it was his size and looked quite warm, so who cared? It wasn't like Thorin would see him wearing it.

In a matter of seconds Kili was out of his loose shirt he had gotten from Aíthon when he had still been recovering from the loss of blood caused by Gwaen's mutilating. Carefully he slipped into the new one, which fit him almost too well. It was a bit too tight from his arms, but it was manageable, and a lot better than the old one.

Kili shuffled through the rest of the clothes, seeing only a jacket and a belt. Since his own trousers and shoes were alright, Legolas hadn't brought new ones. The jacket looked quite funny to Kili - it was long and grey from all around, and when he put it on, it was loose and the end of the jacket almost reached the ground. The belt made it a little better, though, because Kili could tighten it around his waist. He had never liked overly loose clothes.

"Done", Kili told the guard, who spun around and instinctively eyed Kili, but said nothing. Kili rolled his eyes at the guard and walked over to the door, looking up to the elf. "So will you let me out or will you make me dig my way out of here?"

The elf smirked a little as he went to grab his keys. "What a great idea. I should mention that to king Thranduil some day."

Kili couldn't even answer. When the elf started to lead Kili through the familiar corridors, the dwarf looked around himself before ducking his head. He wished that during the week or two they spend in the forest, he could be able to get away. He didn't want to see these halls ever again in his life. For so many months he had sat in his cell, staring at the passageway, waiting for the day he could just run away. Maybe during these weeks he could finally succeed.

He was taken to the kitchen where a mug of water and a plate full of fruits and vegetables stood waiting for him. The guard told Kili to eat quickly, and Kili did so. The apple on the plate reminded Kili of his brother, but he quickly shoved the thought away. He couldn't get weak now.

And so, soon enough they went out, where five elves stood with six horses. Gwaen caught Kili's attention first, and Kili flinched a little as Gwaen's cold stare seemed to drill into Kili. Legolas was quick to break the moment, though, because he hurried to Kili as soon as he noticed him walking towards them.

"I see you are clothed, that is good. Do the clothes I sent fit you well?"

"They're alright", Kili answered, glancing at the horses. No way. He didn't like horses, mainly because they were almost two times taller than he was, big and just no. He didn't like to sit on anything that had a mind of its own - ponies were _fine,_ but even those he rather avoided. He liked to have his feet on the ground at all times, and now he would have to ride a horse? Behind an elf?_ Oh Mahal...  
><em>

Legolas nodded, turning around to point at one of the horses. "The white one is mine. Her name is Spring - you may ride with me."

"Can't I just walk or something? I really don't like horses", Kili groaned, eyeing the white horse Legolas had pointed at. It was definitely the biggest of the horses outside - just his luck.

"I'm afraid you can't", Legolas told with a shake of a head. "You won't fall. Spring is one of the best horses we have. Very calm and loyal."

"I'm not scared of falling", Kili snorted, glancing up at Legolas, who stared back with his blue eyes. "I just don't like them."

"Fine", the elf replied and looked at the guards, all sitting on their horses already. "Are you ready? We should leave, sun is rising soon."

Not long after Kili was sitting behind Legolas, trying to get a hold of the horse so he wouldn't have to lean against the elf at all. They rode behind everyone else for some reason, but Kili didn't mind.

As they started to disappear into the woods, riding slowly, Kili glanced behind him. The front doors were slightly open and Kili could see an elf waving at them as a goodbye - it took him a moment to realize who it was, but when he did, he immediately waved back. The silvery hair glimmering in the rising sun's light gave it away.

Kili knew wouldn't miss anything in the palace if he really did manage to escape, nothing except Aíthon.


	11. Chapter 11: The contest

An: Thanks for all the nice reviews! c: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, I was a bit worried with it.

And heyyyy, a long chapter this time!

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><p>"What are you thinking about?"<p>

The question snapped Kili out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to glance at the elf. Sun was at its highest, beams of light shining through the leaves. It was warm, so Kili had taken off his jacket and the warmth had almost paralyzed him, causing him to fall deep into his own thoughts.

It was their fourth day in the woods. They had decided on the first day that keeping Kili with them when they needed to be alert in case of goblins arrived was a bad idea, so every evening they made a camp in a different location, a little further away from the palace. During the next day one guard -or Legolas- would stay by the camp with Kili while the others left to make sure everything around them was like it should, and when the sun started to set the other elves would return and they would travel for a few hours before setting a new camp. It wasn't the best plan, but that way Kili didn't have many opportunities to escape.

And today, his guard was nobody else than prince Legolas himself.

"Nothing in particular, really", Kili muttered an answer. "I just let my mind wander."

"Would you be a little clearer?" the prince asked, eyeing Kili. They had sat in silence for God-knows how long, and he was becoming rather bored. They still had hours before the guards would come back, and he didn't want to spend it in utter silence. Legolas knew that this dwarf wasn't the best partner for conversations, mostly because they both disliked each other, but he was the only one around.

Kili was a little hesitant to open his mouth, but then he realized that there was no reason for him _not _to tell his thoughts. They weren't exactly secrets he had been thinking about. And he couldn't lose anything by opening up a little - what was the worst thing that could happen if he just kept himself from mentioning Thorin? Kili also figured that keeping Legolas on his side would benefit him during their travel, and if just talking made that easier, why not?

"Well, for one thing, this whole place. I know I should think of this as a horrible place because of everything that has happened to me here, but I can't", Kili started, feeling a little awkward for some reason. As he spoke, he realized that being nice towards Legolas wouldn't be a bad plan. "This forest is beautiful. I can't help thinking that way."

"Do you have forests like this where you come from?"

"Nah", Kili replied, looking around himself. The tall trees surrounding them blocked most of the scenery, but it made it pretty in its own way. "I mean, we do have forests, but they are not like this. It's hard to explain, really."

Legolas nodded, eyeing their surroundings as well. "I grew up in this forest, I know it just as well as I know the palace. There is something about this place I love, something that many of us love. I'm not sure what that is, but trees are part of us. I couldn't imagine a life elsewhere. Climbing them is something we learn at young age, maybe that is the reason."

It sounded odd to Kili, that someone loved forests like that, but when he thought about it, maybe it was same kind of love that dwarves had towards jewelry and stone. It was something they couldn't really help because it was something they grew up with. Surely Kili himself wasn't that fond of cold stone and jewelry and gold because he hadn't been raised among them, but he would have picked them over trees anytime.

"I prefer to keep my feet on the ground", Kili shrugged, slightly amused because of the elf's passion towards the forest.

"You are a _dwarf_. I believe that you would fall from the first tree you climbed into."

"I doubt that, I'm actually good at climbing, I just don't like it too much."

Legolas raised his other eyebrow as he looked at Kili, a slight grin on his lips. "Dwarvish pride. You just have to be good at everything, or at least say that you are even if you are not. I will not judge you for not being good at climbing, you don't have to lie to me. As if it matters."

"I'm not lying!" Kili told the elf, crossing his arms as he glared at Legolas. "It seems that you want me to prove it."

"That won't be necessary", Legolas answered and leaned back, his back touching a thick tree's trunk behind him.

"Are you scared that I'm better than you?" Kili grinned even a little slyly, eyeing the elf for some kind of reaction. "I didn't think that the prince of Mirkwood would be that cowardly. I was thinking about some kind of race, but alright. We don't have to."

Legolas stared at Kili for a few seconds, through his narrowed eyes. It was hard to tell what the prince was thinking about, but Kili knew that the elf wouldn't say no. _Maybe a little competition would be fun. At least it would kill some time, _he thought and grinned at the elf. His actions were nothing else than a plot to survive and he knew it himself, but Legolas didn't seem to notice, and for that Kili was thankful.

Or even if the prince of Mirkwood did notice that Kili's smiles were mostly fake and forced, he did a good job at hiding his knowledge.

Finally Legolas nodded. "Fine. We shall see are you as good as you tell you are - whoever reaches the treetop first wins."

"Great", Kili laughed and stood up, stretching his numb legs a little. Legolas was on his feet in a mere second as well, eyeing the trees in order to find out what was the best for climbing, and soon decided that the one on the left from them was perfect. Its branches were lower than in the other trees, so Kili could easily grab them too. They both knew perfectly well that Legolas' height was his advantage, but on the other hand, Kili could slip through narrower spaces than the elf, probably helping him higher in the tree where the branched were really close to each other.

When both of them stood underneath the tree, Legolas looked down to the dwarf with an amused look on his face. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Are you ready to lose?"

"Don't be so sure about it."

"I am completely sure", Kili laughed and glanced up to the tree. It was high, higher than the highest tree Kili had ever climbed, but the challenge actually seemed fun. He hadn't lied when he had said that he was pretty good, but he also knew that Legolas was probably better, although that didn't stop him from giving his absolute best.

They counted and on three they both jumped up, Legolas swinging himself swiftly onto the lowest branch, while Kili followed not far behind, but far less swiftly. Legolas could have climbed at higher speed, but for everyone's safety he decided to slow down a little. Kili, on the other hand, went from branch to branch as quicklu as he just could, barely keeping up with Legolas' speed.

Halfway up the tree Kili noticed that on the other side of the trunk the branches grew closer to each other, so as he climbed up, he also moved to the side. Legolas, who was now a couple branched above Kili, snorted in amusement, stopping on his tracks for a second as he turned his head to glance down at the dwarf. "I am going slower than normally, and yet you are losing."

"Just wait and see", Kili breathed out, finally reaching Legolas' level again. He was slightly out of breath as he leaned his head against the trunk and eyed the elf. "Why did you stop? I don't need a break", he added with a grin. He started to notice that his wrist ached slightly, probably because of all the weight he had supported on it and because it hadn't yet fully healed, but he just ignored it and continued to grin.

"I only decided to let you reach me before continuing again", Legolas answered and suddenly realized that if some of his men saw them now, they wouldn't stop laughing for decades, possibly.

"That won't be necessary anymore, you will lose this one", Kili replied and grabbed the branch above him, swinging himself on it as Legolas shook his head. What on Ilúvatar's name was he doing? It was amusing, but something he had never thought he'd do. He was the prince of Mirkwood, after all. He was supposed to be a _prince _and not play with their prisoners. He would already be in deep trouble when they returned to the palace, his father hearing that he had climbed a tree with the dwarf would only worsen his situation.

Kili glanced down only to see Legolas just where he had left him. Why wasn't he climbing? Kili had just started to enjoy this, the climbing familiar and bringing up good memories. "Are you coming?" Kili called out, hanging by his hands from the frighteningly thin branch that bent under the weight of his body. "Or do we just climb down and agree that I won?"

Legolas' eyes met Kili's and he noticed the victorious grin on his lips, and that was when he made his decision. "Never, dwarf. I just got lost in my thoughts for a few seconds - you will lose."

And so they continued climbing, the branches getting thinner and thinner every time they climbed up to the point where Kili was certain they'd break under his feet. Luckily though, that didn't happen. Legolas was going his usual speed again, reaching Kili with no trouble. They both had gotten a little out of breath, Kili more than Legolas, but both anyways.

"I will see you in the treetop", Legolas said as he climbed up, leaving Kili behind. There were only a few branches anymore, and their speed had slowed down a lot because of all the new leaves and sticks poking at them, but Legolas was still faster than Kili. And when Kili reached the treetop, Legolas was already there, sitting on the branch and leaning his back against the trunk, grinning at the dwarf. "What did I tell you?"

"That was pure luck", Kili shrugged, rolling his eyes as he also sat down on the thin but long branch next to the one Legolas was sitting on. "If we ever did this again, I would win. You would have no chances of winning."

"You have big talks, Kili", the elf replied in an amused tone. He was trying to ignore the worry inside of him by convincing himself that nobody had seen them do this, and that he would get yelled at anyways.

Kili glanced at the prince. That was the first time Legolas had used his name around him, and it sounded odd to his ears after so many 'you's and 'dwarf's.

xx

The rest of the elves returned just when the sun was completely down, interrupting Kili's and Legolas' conversation about bows. Kili's knowledge about them had revealed Legolas Kili's choice of weapon, which had engulfed them to a deep conversation about how they worked, which was the best situation for them, how they were better than swords or axes and also how they were not. Kili had no idea how long they had talked about them, but he didn't mind. That was the first real conversation he had had in ages.

Kili flinched as Gwaen jumped down from his horse with such a power that even the horse neighed. Gwaen hadn't done as much as touched Kili during their travel, but his actions had been quick and forceful for those four days they had been there. It seemed that the presence of the prince -Kili guessed that it was because of Legolas and not the other guards, because the other guards hadn't been a problem to Gwaen earlier- kept Gwaen from abusing the dwarf. Kili was happy because of this, but he knew that soon it was Gwaen's turn to be his guard and only Mahal knew what would happen then.

As the other elves came down from their horses and settled down on the ground, ready to eat something, Kili could relax. Gwaen was sitting quite far from him, next to two guards Kili had already spent a day with, Úron and Roden, who happened to be brothers. The blonde brothers had been quite similar to each other, although Úron as a younger brother had been a little less uptight than Roden. Not that Roden had been bad - Roden had also been really kind towards the dwarf, but had seemed a little nervous and just uneasy with the whole situation.

The other two guards were still kind of nameless to Kili. He had heard both of their names once of twice, but hadn't really paid attention. As far as Kili knew, they were just normal guards like Aíthon, and well, he wasn't even interested in their names. The one with almost white hair had pushed Kili down a few times when nobody was watching them, so Kili had quickly started to dislike him. The other one had a bit brownish hair, and even though Kili hadn't interacted with him yet, he believed that this elf was nice. He just didn't seem mean.

"I suppose you are hungry as well", Legolas more asked than stated, raising another eyebrow at Kili. This yanked him back to the reality from his thoughts, once again.

"I'm starving", Kili replied, eyeing the elves all at once. As he moved on to Gwaen, their eyes met, and for a moment Kili felt the same kind of fear rush over him as in the dark corridors in the palace after his third escape attempt. The look in Gwaen's eyes was as cold as ever, and even though Kili knew that as long as he didn't cause any trouble, no trouble would come to him, he didn't like it.

"Let him starve", Gwaen said in a emotionless tone, never breaking their eye contact. "Would serve as a good reminder not to be so disrespectful."

"Not serving food serves as a good reminder", chuckled the white haired elf. Gwaen took his eyes off Kili to glance at the speaker, nodding with a smirk on his lips.

"I don't think starving the dwarf is a solution to anything", Legolas commented, sending a glare towards Gwaen. "He has not been, in any means, disrespectful today. Quite the opposite, I must say. If you have a problem towards him for no reason, keep it to yourself, Gwaen. We should be better than dwarves, and your actions don't really point to that."

Kili knew that Legolas meant well, but the part '_we should be better than dwarves' _made something pinch inside. Anyways, he was relieved that Legolas had stood up to him. It was a pleasant surprise, and Kili couldn't help but wonder if all the relaxed and polite chatting had made that happen?

Úron glanced at Kili, his bright green eyes apologetic, and the dwarf nodded with a grin. _It's okay. _

As the stew was cooking on the fire, Legolas ordered Gwaen to go out into the forest and pick them some berries to eat. As Gwaen rose with a betrayed look on his face and disappeared into the woods around them, Kili couldn't help but smile as Legolas and he exchanged a look. Was this some kind of punishment?

Time passed and Kili found himself thinking more about all of that. He had spent a good while in the palace, and he had noticed some things. The first thing he thought about was that they had a lot of guards, really, _a lot. _Had not a single one of them wanted to look after Kili? What was that about, anyways? Looking after him. He had never heard that he needed someone to 'look after' him before during his many months in there. And why was the prince suddenly this eager to help him out? It was all so confusing.

Gwaen returned with some berries and handed them over to Legolas, who inspected them, probably to make sure they were fine to eat. Kili eyed this from where he sat close to the prince - he had almost forgotten what berries tasted like. Back home he would eat them almost every night before going to sleep, mainly because they were light but filled your half empty stomach nicely. Of course they also tasted delicious.

"Here you go", Legolas said soon, reaching over to Kili with the berries on his palm. "This is a good dessert, isn't it?"

The murderous look in Gwaen's eyes was priceless if you asked the dwarf, and he could have sworn that Legolas also enjoyed it.

xx

The next day Kili spent with the white haired elf. It seemed that the elf -Alvor, Kili reminded himself- wasn't pleased of how Legolas had treated him last evening, so he took it out on Kili. He didn't do much, only pushed him around a little and against a tree couple of times, causing a little bruises somewhere on Kili's back, but nothing more than that. Thankfully the elf believed that if harm was done on Kili, Legolas would take action and a sanction would be brought upon himself later on, and so Kili was almost safe.

When Alvor had had enough and finally left Kili alone, Kili found himself thinking once again. He couldn't come up with any reasonable explanation on _why _this was all happening, and it was driving him insane. He doubted he would have time alone with Legolas in a few days so he could ask, but he didn't want to wait. On the other hand, he wouldn't ask in front of the other elves.

It was frustrating, and Kili let it out by forcefully pulling out grass from the ground and throwing it as far as he could. Soon, though, Alvor spoke. "Hey! Stop it, dwarf! The ground isn't there for you to rip it apart, it is there to support your feet!"

"I don't think I am causing any serious harm on the ground by pulling out a little bit of grass", Kili sighed a little bitterly, not feeling up to fighting with the fool.

"I dare you to say that again", Alvor hissed, glaring at Kili from where he stood near a tree. Some part of Kili wanted to rebel, stand up and spit at the elf, but the more reasonable side of him that had grown a _lot _during his stay in Mirkwood -more or less thanks to the constant threat of Gwaen hurting him- told him to shut his mouth and apologize.

_I am not apologizing_, Kili thought and rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Alvor kept glaring at Kili for a couple more seconds, probably trying to prove his point, before nodding in approval. It pissed Kili, how most of the elves really thought they were so much better than he was. Just because they were taller and had lived for far longer than he would ever live didn't mean they were royals compared to Kili!

Sooner or later, though, the sun started to set and the others returned. As Kili noticed Legolas riding towards the camp with his white horse, he shot up and walked up to him. They weren't far from the other elves, so Kili kept his voice down as he spoke. "I need to ask you something, but I don't want the guards to hear it."

For a moment Legolas looked kind of puzzled, but then nodded with a sigh. "I suppose we can step away from the others for a few minutes", he told Kili, to his big surprise. Kili hadn't thought that finding the time and place to talk with the prince would be that easy. "Alvor, did everything go well?" he continued, now looking at the white haired guard that stood not far from Kili.

"Everything went really well, the dwarf didn't cause any trouble, sir."

"I'm happy to hear that", Legolas answered, motioning Kili to jump on the horse. "We might as well ride as we speak. Do you not think so?"

Kili smirked, gritting his teeth. "I, uh, would rather keep my feet on the ground. I told you this yesterday."

Legolas nodded with a slight grin on his lips. "I remember. Fine, we can also walk as we talk."

"Great", Kili answered with a smile and a nod. "Where will we head?"

No sound echoed out as Legolas slid down from his horse and his feet met the ground. "Nowhere far. Just somewhere", he replied as he bound the pony to the nearest tree, making sure that she wouldn't run away. "Done."

Before they set off, Legolas turned to the guards and told them to start preparing the food, and that they wouldn't be gone for long. Nobody asked any questions, although Kili could see that Gwaen looked like he wasn't really agreeing with the idea, the way his face tensed up gave it all away to everyone. When Legolas turned around, Kili showed Gwaen the best victorious look he could pull off.

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><p>Review! I would love to hear what you think will happen and what has happened (that I haven't yet told you, perhaps) - I have these very awesome "I love Gwaen" stickers and I could send every reviewer one!<p>

..no? You don't want them? ugh, alright.

Jokes aside, I hope you liked it!


	12. Chapter 12: Revelation

An: Time for some answers! c: _huge _thanks for eredhys for helping me out with this. Seriously. Gah. c:

I'm not sure when I'm going to update again. I have a guest coming over from Lapland and she's staying until Sunday and I don't know if I'm able to write with her here with me. If I am, I will post a new chapter during weekend. If I am not, it'll most probably be next Monday or Tuesday. Sorry for this!

**Oooh and** **hey**! I'm going to Hobbitcon with eredhys, and if some of you are coming and notice us there (even though you really don't know what I look like but eh whatever) come say hello! I'd really love to meet new people there and I know she'd like it too :p

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><p>"So, what did you want to ask?"<p>

Kili drew in a breath as he walked next to the elven prince. It worried him that Legolas could refuse to answer or would lie - he wanted nothing more than a simple truth, and if you asked him, he had deserved it after all he had experienced. For all the nights he had spent alone in his cell, sometimes in great pain, for all the lonely moments that never seemed to end, for all the punishments and unkind words that sometimes felt worse than actual physical pain.

He decided he deserved the truth and that was what he was going get.

"I hope you have the time to explain me", Kili answered, glancing up at the elf the moment he looked down at Kili, their eyes meeting. "This whole thing is just.. it seems odd to me. Everything you have said and done and the way I was _forced_ to come here even though I am only a burden to you here."

"Is there a question in there somewhere?" Legolas asked, a visibly faked grin on his lips.

"Why am I here, really?" Kili sighed, ducking his head a little before looking up again.

Legolas came to a halt and stared at Kili, a contemplating, a kind of hesitating expression on his face. Kili stopped on his tracks as well, raising another eyebrow at the elf. For a second or two they both stood in silence, Legolas clearly wondering what to say or do next.

A groan escaped Kili's lips. "I don't want to hear any lies or excuses. I want the truth. You owe me at least that after all I have been through, thanks to _your_ father."

"Fine", Legolas answered, sounding a little uneasy. "We should sit down somewhere, and I will tell everything."

"No lies?" Kili asked, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. He had no clue on what to expect, but he hoped that it wasn't anything too bad. Legolas' uncertainty got Kili a bit worried, though. On the other hand, the worst thing that could be the reason was that someone was planning on killing him, and Kili didn't believe such a thing to be likely. Maybe Gwaen, yes, but if Gwaen was that big of a threat to Kili, why would Legolas take him with them? Or if the plan was to let Gwaen kill Kili in the woods, why did Legolas do such a good job on keeping Gwaen far from his target?

Nothing made sense, so Kili couldn't wait to hear.

"No lies. I give you my word."

They started walking again, now in complete silence. Legolas looked around them and quickly found a tree with branches so low that they could just sit there like in a normal chair, and pointed it out to Kili. Agreeing with the prince's idea, they sat down on the branches, facing each other.

"It's a quite long story, so I might have to start from the very beginning of it", Legolas said, glancing at the dwarf, who nodded eagerly.

"I don't mind it being long, as long as you just are honest", Kili sighed, hanging his head.

"Fair enough. It all started with a messenger from Lake-town. I wasn't allowed to know what he came to tell my father, but I didn't think it was anything important because of that very reason. The same day rumors started to spread around the palace - rumors about you and your intentions in the palace. I dismissed them because I knew better."

Kili's eyes narrowed. "What rumors?"

"That the real reason you were brought in was because you wanted to destroy us. Nobody could say why, exactly, just that you wandered our lands with the intention of getting caught, so you could take action from the inside and kill my father or something of the kind. This was a week or so before this travel", Legolas explained, looking a little apologetic.

"That's absurd", Kili cried out, his eyes widening. "Why on Mahal's name would they think that? If that was my intention, do you not think I would have done it already? How stupid are you elves?"

That reaction made Legolas grin. "As I said, I never believed them. Rumors are almost always just rumors. When I asked my father about them, he told me it didn't concern him in the slightest. He said he believed that it was all just speculation of some kind. Anyways, the day before our travel one of my father's guards came to me, saying that my father needed to see me. After finishing what I was doing, I went to my father's hall where he explained something to me. First he told me that he was only saying this so I knew what to expect when I came back from this travel."

Kili didn't like the sound of that. As Legolas spoke, his voice got lower and a little bit slower as well, and Kili knew that what was coming wouldn't be good.

"The messenger had come to the palace to warn my father about a little fight in Lake-town and that it could happen in our palace, as well. King Daín from the Iron Hills had marched into the Master's home and started breaking everything in retaliation for the injustice that the Master had done. When asked why, king Daín had simply broken something else and shouted about some relative of his."

When Daín's name first came up, Kili's heart immediately started to race in his chest. Yet at the same time he couldn't help but feeling amused because _that sounded so like Daín. _Even if everything else was a lie, that part of Legolas' story had to be real, because the only person who would ever do something of the like was Daín, and how could an elf know what he was like?

"This relative turned out to be a dwarf with a short name, Keli or Kali or something of the kind, the messenger didn't remember. My father guessed that that meant you", Legolas explained and sighed deeply. "When he told me this, I knew what he was going to say. Daín being your kin makes you Durin's folk."

_Oh Mahal. _

"This was a problem for my father. That and the rumors.. he told me that he had been unsure about the rumors at first, but later started to believe them, when a messenger sent by him came back with some information about you and your close relatives. He thought that Thorin Oakenshield's nephew could want nothing but harm on us", he said almost quietly. Maybe he was scared that someone would hear them, Kili didn't know, but he was too busy thinking to care. They knew his family, and now it was almost certain to him that if he returned to the palace, he would be killed. But what was he doing _there_?

"Kili, son of Dís, daughter of Thráin, sister of Thorin Oakenshield. Quite an impressive family, I must say", Legolas added and almost laughed shortly. "Heir to the king under the mountain.."

"I have an older brother, he would be the first in line after Thorin", Kili told Legolas. "Can you continue?"

"So it is all true?" Legolas asked. "You are Durin's folk?"

"I am", Kili said in a slight annoyance. "Could you just resume?"

"Sorry. After my father had told me that, he continued to explain how he had wondered what to do for many days. He told me that at first he had thought that death would be too much, because you had not caused any actual harm to anyone, but in the end he had decided that he wouldn't risk it. As your kin already believes you are dead, nobody would come to ask about you. In his plan he would put one of his best sword-users to execute you in a quick and painless way." Legolas' voice kind of faded towards the end, not much, but a little. The elf eyed Kili as if to look for some kind of reaction.

Kili felt .. betrayed. Even though he had known all along that ending his life wouldn't be a great loss to the elves, he had never believed that they would do so. It felt so unreal. He couldn't go back! He didn't want to die, he wanted to return home and just forget everything and everyone and go back to live his life.

"You must know what if this is true, I cannot go back", Kili told the elf, his voice not as strong as he wanted it to be. "I won't."

"Let me finish telling this to you, please", Legolas sighed, shifting on the branch. Kili nodded. "He told me that the execution would take place during these two weeks, and nobody would know the truth, except me and my father. They would be told that it was some kind of accident or something, that you fell on your neck or hit your head too hard. He wouldn't tell me why this was. I didn't say anything to my father as I left after hearing this, but went to my own bedroom to think. I was torn between my father's decision and my own view on this whole mess. I didn't think it through, instead I acted on what felt right at that moment. I walked to where you were working outside, and told you to come too", he explained and let out a dry laugh. "I don't regret it that much, I am only worried about what my father thinks. I know you and Aíthon are close, so I told him I was taking you with me so he could tell father if he started asking about your sudden disappearance, which he must have done already."

It seemed like they had been there for hours, the time had just slowed down for Kili. Every word Legolas let escape from his mouth made the previous make more sense, and at the end of the story it all tied together so well. It had to explain Roden's slightly nervous behavior too - he had probably heard the rumors.

"I..", Kili started, not sure what to say. He just couldn't find the words to say _anything_ at all. It had all been revealed so suddenly and it had been far worse than he had been hoping for. "What now?" he finally blurted out, raising his gaze to look at Legolas, who seemed somewhat unsettled. "I mean, do you just take me back to the palace and wait for my death? Like I'm not even a real being and more of a diseased animal that you need to get rid of? _After all you have done to me you just simply kill me_?" He couldn't help his voice from getting louder. He was angry now, they couldn't just do that to him!

His heart raced in his chest as he struggled to hold on to the last bits of calmness he had left in him. He didn't want to lash out on Legolas, but it was so hard to control himself. Somehow he managed, though. At least for that moment.

"I don't have other choices than to take you back, Kili. My father knows you are here, and if you do not return, he will know. Letting you escape will infuriate him, and who knows what he could do then", Legolas replied, genuinely sorry for having to do that. "I only took you here to give you a warning, and some more time. And besides, here you don't have to work. You get to rest as long as you want to. You get to eat more than in the palace - think of this as a-"

"As an apology before one of your men kill me?" Kili cut Legolas off, glaring at the elf. "Thank you for this", he added as sarcastically as he just could before jumping down from the branch and starting to storm towards the camp again, his hands clenched into tight fists. He could hear Legolas following him a couple of meters behind him, but paid no attention to the prince. Why should he?

The first thing he did when he turned to the camp was that he went to Gwaen, who sat on the ground his back to the approaching dwarf, and kicked him hard to his back. If he was going to be killed in two weeks, why shouldn't he do what he had always wanted to? He had nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing.

Gwaen jumped and was on his feet in a second, pushing Kili against the nearest tree with such a speed that Kili actually flinched in surprise. His back hit the trunk and a wave of pain flashed through his body, disappearing as fast as it came. "You never seem to get enough, do you?" Gwaen hissed, glaring at Kili under furrowed brows. "Well, I don't mind."

Kili closed his eyes and raised his hands to protect his face as Gwaen raised his fist and let it down on Kili, hitting his cheek painfully hard, causing Kili's head to snap to the right. He heard Legolas yelling somewhere behind Gwaen, but the head of the guard didn't seem to mind, but only hit Kili again.

A forceful kick to Gwaen's knee was enough for the elf to loosen up his grip and drop his guard down for a second, so Kili took a tight hold of Gwaen's hair and pulled it as hard as he could, managing to get the guard cry out. Kili's upper hand was short lived, though, because in seconds Gwaen had slammed Kili's whole body against the tree again, this time hard enough to knock the wind out of him, and for a moment Kili felt like he couldn't breathe.

Gwaen used this moment to grab Kili by his collar and throw him on the ground, where Kili stayed, coughing his lungs out. He could feel warm blood dripping down from his nose and onto the ground, staining the green grass.

"Gwaen, stop it!" echoed out Úron's voice.

"Come on, that's enough!" Roden yelled as well.

"Do you honestly think that?" Gwaen yelled back and turned back to Kili, who now got to draw in a shaky breath. "I am not done yet."

Kili felt his body being lifted up to air, and in seconds he was ready to fight again. He threw his fist at Gwaen, hitting his cheek hard enough for Gwaen to avenge it by pushing Kili against a tree again. Not coming up with anything, as he was pinned against the trunk and Gwaen's hand, Kili spat at the elf, his spit landing directly on his face.

And that, Kili realized, was a mistake.

"You piece of-" Gwaen stormed, hitting Kili's face again and again, leaving the dwarf unable to do anything about it. As the punches just kept landing on his face he could hear something cracking in his face, a stinging, white pain and then the ground underneath his body again.

The whole world was spinning around him as he opened his eyes and looked around him. He could see two constantly moving figures holding a third, all of them spinning and waving in front of his eyes. Then there was a face close to his, a worried expression on it. "-you okay? Kili? Can you hear-"

Darkness engulfed him surprisingly fast, and slowly the stinging pain faded away as well.


	13. Chapter 13: The plan

An: Hey, look, I'm here! And it's not Monday! Aaaanyways, thanks for the nice reviews. It sounds like you guys feel really bad for Kili, it'd be a shame if something else happened to him... c:

O-Wan Kenop, I can't answer you because you've disabled PM but thanks for the review! Voi kettukarkki kyllä joo, ihanaa et tykkäät mun tarinoista! :) kiitos!

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><p>Úron sighed heavily and crossed his arms, glaring at Gwaen from where he stood behind his brother. Roden had come to interrupt the heated argument that had begin to look a bit threatening by stepping between the other two elves. The two others, Alvor and Erisdír, had left the camp a while ago to find them a new place to spend the night. Legolas, Gwaen, Úron, Kili and Roden would join them when the dwarf woke up from his small nap.<p>

"If I were you, Úron, I would silence myself. I have all the authority over you to kick you out from your current work and make sure that you will never get back", Gwaen hissed, stepping a little closer. He was angry and he felt like hitting everyone that came to his way, including his fellow guards. _Especially _this young, naive guard who didn't seem to know where his place was.

A warning glance from Roden got Gwaen to back the one step he had moved forward. Roden was a good guard, obeyed without a question and never rebelled or stood up against the other elves, least of all the had of the guard. This side of him was new to Gwaen - he hadn't known that his brother came before rules and rationality, but it came and Gwaen knew it now.

"And if I were you I would stop beating dwarves to near death", Úron said in a pissed tone. "I don't know what the history is between you two, but nothing justifies what you just did."

"You are a dwarf-lover, aren't you?" Gwaen asked with a murderous look. "It is not a concern of mine that you befriended the dwarf. He is our prisoner and that is all he is to me, and I will treat him as one. Just because my prince and two guards have made a friend out of him, doesn't change the facts."

Roden narrowed his eyes as he stared at the head of the guard.

"He is not my friend. He is our prisoner but that doesn't mean we should beat him every chance we've got! You are a coward, Gwaen."

"Okay, that's it", Roden quickly said as he saw the change for worse in Gwaen's eyes. He spun around and grabbed his brother by the shoulders, pushing him backwards. "Don't say anything else, Úron, or I will make sure to tell father about this. Just go see how Kili is doing, alright? I will follow you in a few minutes."

Nodding shortly, Úron turned around and left, leaving Gwaen and Roden alone. Roden cursed in his thoughts - why was his brother always getting himself in trouble? He had long known that his little brother did what felt right and acted on his feelings more than his mind, but it still surprised him every time. It wasn't necessary a bad thing to do what your heart told you to, but in situations already tense like this..

Once arriving to the resting dwarf, Úron sat down onto the ground next to the prince. Legolas had been cleaning Kili's wounds as he was the best of their small group, and was already halfway through.

The elves exchanged a look and Legolas sighed, working slowly on the wounds around Kili's eyes. "I heard that you were arguing with Gwaen."

"I was", Úron nodded, taking a glance at his brother and the chief of the guard, who were now talking in silent voices. "I dislike the way Gwaen thinks he can do anything he wants, and when I mentioned that.. I think you heard the result better than well."

Legolas answered with a dry laugh. "I did, and I think Alvor and Erisdír heard that, wherever they are now."

xx

Kili sighed as he sat on the other side of the fire, Legolas eyeing him carefully. The prince had said that he'd stay with Kili that day, because if something 'suddenly changed' and Kili went for the worse, he could help better than anyone. That was, naturally, a lie, but Kili didn't know what the truth was. He assumed that Legolas had something to speak about, maybe about yesterday evening and the fight, but so far, Legolas hadn't said anything out of the usual. Kili had heard questions like 'does your head still hurt', 'how is your eye' and 'are you hungry' so many times during the few hours they had been alone that they started to annoy him a little.

As the stew boiled next to Kili, he couldn't help but get hungry. It smelled delicious. He had just eaten a couple of hours ago, before the other elves left to patrol around the forest, but he couldn't wait to eat again. For once - usually eating was mandatory since the food was tasteless, but not this time, and he was looking forward to it. Legolas had used a lot of berries to give it some taste.

The time moved slowly and Kili was at the edge of dying because of boredom. The strengthening aroma of the food boiling on the fire made Kili's stomach turn in hunger, but finally it was done and Legolas halved it to give both of them the same amount, even though Kili was sure that the prince knew that Kili could eat way more than the elf. Anyways, it was better than nothing and Kili didn't argue.

Some of the eating passed by in near silence, as well, but before Kili had reached the first half of his food, he decided to open his mouth. He couldn't take the somewhat awkward silence anymore.

"Why are you so quiet today? I mean, two days ago I merely got to say a word because you were talking all the time", Kili said, glancing a meaningful look at the prince, who raised his gaze from the bowl to the dwarf. A second passed, then another.

"I don't know", said Legolas finally, sighing. "I suppose I was looking for the right time to speak."

Kili raised his other eyebrow at the elf. "Why? Is there something I should know?"

The question made Legolas grin, for some reason. "Perhaps there is. First of all, I want to apologize for telling you all the things I did yesterday. I know I shouldn't have told them, I just thought that you have the right to know what is coming and why all of this is happening." Legolas' voice wasn't apologetic, so Kili guessed that this was more formal than an actual apology. Not that there was anything to be sorry for anyways, because there wasn't. Kili had asked for the truth and he had gotten it.

"It's okay", Kili answered, shoving a spoonful of the stew into his mouth. The smell had been better than the taste, but it was still better than usually. "Maybe I should apologize for what I did to Gwaen, but I won't apologize to _him_. He doesn't deserve it."

"I know", Legolas replied with a short laugh. "Secondly, I did some thinking during the time you weren't conscious, and then during the night again. I disagreed with my father's idea to end your life before out travel, and I disagree with it now, my mind hasn't changed. And to put it shortly, I have decided to let you run."

Kili froze. Run? As in...

"As in escape, yes", Legolas continued as if he had read Kili's mind. "But we need to do it so nobody suspects anything. You probably don't understand in how much trouble I will get if my father finds out about this - it has to look real. And I have a plan."

xx

The evening fell on them surprisingly fast, and before they knew it, the others returned. Stars covered the dark night sky by the time the food was done, and Kili found himself relaxing against a tree, far from Gwaen and his nasty stares. Úron had joined him for some reason, but Kili didn't mind. Legolas had told him how the young elf had stood up for Kili last night and almost got dismissed from the guards. There was something in Úron that reminded Kili of Aíthon, and it wasn't a bad thing.

"How long have you been in the palace?" asked Úron. He seemed to be really interested in Kili's whole experience, and kept asking a lot of questions. "I haven't seen you, but you must have been there for a longer time for the prince to trust you enough to take you with us here."

"I kind of lost the count of days now when I'm not in my cell anymore, but it's more than five months by now", Kili answered with a sigh. _Hopefully it won't be much longer or I will lose my mind. Legolas has to keep his promise._

"Have you and Gwaen fought a lot during that time?" he continued his questions, his eyes twinkling in curiosity.

"More than I like to admit", Kili snorted, shaking his head. "With Gwaen I lost count months ago. It wasn't always physical, but almost every week I would argue with him at least once. Sometimes he would hurt me physically as well, but not in a long time anymore.. at least before yesterday."

Úron nodded, sighing deeply. "He's short tempered, but that is one of the reasons he is the head of the guard. It can be a bad thing, but it can really be a good thing, as well. But know that most of us aren't like Gwaen. I mean, none of us would hurt you without a very good reason, Gwaen and a few others are exceptions."

"I know", the dwarf answered, closing his eyes. He was growing tired, but they still needed to travel before he could sleep. The other elves were all now packing their bags, and in few minutes they would be on their way again. He wasn't really looking forward to it, but somehow he had gotten used to sitting on a horse by now and it wasn't _that _horrible anymore. All he looked forward to was some sleep.

"Are you tired?" asked Úron now, eyeing the dwarf who slowly opened his eyes to glance at the elf.

"Yeah."

"I heard Prince Legolas say that we won't travel far today. You get go to sleep soon", he told Kili with a grin.

"He did?" Kili asked, nodding with a smile. "Great. I can't wait."

xx

"Roden, it is your turn to guard the camp through the night", Legolas told as they had settled to their new location. "You will also keep an eye on the dwarf tomorrow. I will take the next night."

Kili was laying under the pile of blankets on his usual spot, a little further from everyone else. Úron rested a couple of meters away from him, and the others were all surrounding the fire in order to keep warmer. Kili liked to sleep away from the others simply because of the privacy and the feeling of safety. If he slept next to Gwaen, Alvor or Erisdír, he wouldn't sleep well because of the constant, lingering feeling of danger.

The news that Legolas woulf be guarding the camp the next night meant that their plan would take action then, and it was more than enough to make Kili grin to himself. Soon he would be free. It would be hard, it would take time and he would probably starve before he got back to Ered Luin, but he would be free and that was what he had been secretly dreaming of for the past five months. He would no longer have to be scared of death every time he did something wrong, he wouldn't have to count hours until the next time he got food or saw the daylight or got to have some rest.

"Sure", Roden muttered as an answer and shifted a little where he sat, his back against a tree. They were now surrounded by thick trees and they couldn't see anywhere. No light shone through the treetop, not even the dim light from the moon and stars. It would have been absolutely black if it weren't for the fire rattling on the ground.

Feeling happy, relaxed and safe, Kili quickly fell asleep.

He was woken up by a sharp cry of pain and inhuman noises echoing from all directions. "Goblins!" someone yelled and in a mere second Kili was on his feet, wide awake even though it was in the middle of the night. The fire had gone mostly out already, so it was really dark, but thankfully it still illuminated the surroundings enough for Kili to notice that there were dozens of goblins all around them. They were all holding different kinds of crappy but very heavy weapons. Kili knew what weapons made to crush bones looked like, and those were definitely designed for that. It made Kili, a dwarf with nothing to defend himself with, a little scared.

Looking around himself, Kili saw all of the elves up with their shiny swords and big bows out-

Kili cried out as something heavy collided with his shoulder, forcefully making Kili crash to the ground. His left shoulder was instantly a mess of almost paralyzing white pain and this burning feeling, as if it was on fire. Despite the agony, Kili forced himself up and faced this ugly goblin with a big hammer-like weapon. He was out of options if he wanted to survive alive, and he would, he had decided that - he blundged himself at the creature and hit it with his body, both of them colliding with the hard ground. As soon as he could, Kili started hitting and kicking the ugly creature underneath him, using all the strength he could.

The goblin still had a tight grip of the hammer, so as Kili had to stop hitting it for half a second in order to raise his hand again, it swung its ugly arm and the hammer hit Kili's jaw painfully hard, knocking the dwarf easily down. A yell escaped Kili's lips, as pain seemed to engulf his whole face.

Rising from the ground, the goblin smirked and brought its hammer up, its eyes meeting with Kili's for a second or two. It intented to smash the head of his victim. To finish Kili off.

Thankfully, it never got a chance. Before it could swing its hammer down, Roden jumped in front of it and with a powerful swing of his sword, the goblin's head lay on the ground, away from its body and shoulders where it had just been a second ago.

"Try not to get yourself killed", Roden said with a serious expression, yanking Kili up from the ground. "Take this", the elf continued and handed Kili a short but very sharp knife. "I can't give you anything else as I don't own anything else, but that can save your life."

"I hope so", Kili said as he examined the knife, holding his left arm tightly against his body. "Thank you."

Roden nodded and swirled around, leaving Kili to help his fellow elves, who were all fighting around the place.

He caught a glimpse of the blonde Prince fighting three goblins at once. Not thinking about it, he ran to his help. If Legolas got hurt, he would have to rest the next night and their plan wouldn't happen!

Coming across a goblin, Kili quickly lashed out with his knife, sinking it to its throat. The goblin shrieked and pulled away, Kili yanking the knife out of the creature's soft flesh, taking off again. As he got to the Prince of Mirkwood, who had now four goblins to fight off, Kili tightened his grip around the dagger and stabbed one of the goblins to the back of its head, a little clumsily because his left arm wasn't okay and it was hard with only one, but it killed the goblin and that's the only thing that mattered.

"Legolas" Kili almost yelled over the noises of fighting. He wasn't sure what he'd say.

"You stupid dwarf! Go!" Legolas hissed, slicing an approaching goblin with his sword. "Now, do you hear me, just run and hide! Our plan happens now!"

Kili didn't need to be told twice.

He ran.


	14. Chapter 14: Escape

An: Wooo, a long chapter! I hope you enjoy it like I enjoyed writing it c:

I just noticed that this fic has more follows than any other fic of mine - so a huge thank you to everyone! It's quite unbelievable how many this has gotten, you know, 62 is a huge number for me!

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><p>His shoulder protested against every movement, every step he took, but he couldn't stop. He wasn't sure if he really was alone because he doubted that nobody had seen him leave, but on the other hand it was really dark and all of the elves had been busy fighting the goblins. For some reason he felt bad for leaving the elves alone with the goblins, as it wasn't in his blood to flee from a fight, but he also kept reminding himself where his priorities lay. He owed the elves pretty much nothing and even if he did, he would only make the situation worse by trying to help them in his condition. His main goal was to run far enough and hide so the elves wouldn't find him later.<p>

The only noises around him were the distance voices of fighting, his feet drumming against the ground as he ran, and his own, fast breathing. It was really quiet when you thought about it, and it was kind of scary. Kili had been used to constant noises since the elves didn't need a lot of sleep and back in his cell there had been people walking past it all the time.

Kili ran as long as he could, and he didn't stop until his knees felt like they would give up under him and he felt nauseous for running so much. As he seized, it was fully silent, only his own breathing echoing into his ears. Kili leaned against his knees, trying to steady his breathing and rapidly beating heart. He was exhausted and tired, but he knew that he couldn't rest until he found a spot from where no elf would find him while he slept. He knew that the plan would stay the same even if the escaping itself had been different - and even though he didn't know where to go, he knew he needed to go somewhere.

Straightening his back, Kili looked around himself. There weren't many places to hide in - the trees were one place, but he knew that they weren't the best places for resting, and with his hurt shoulder the climbing would be hard and painful. The ground was one choice, but there weren't many bushes and even the few of them had practically no leaves in them, just dry, brown sticks as the winter had just barely left. Those would be uncomfortable and they would reveal Kili's location immediately.

_I'm not giving up_, Kili thought to himself. _I've gotten this far already. I will find a good place before getting some rest. _

And so he started to move forward, his feet barely holding his weight anymore.

xx

The first beams of the rising sun illuminated their travel nicely. Úron was walking beside his brother, slightly annoyed at him. One of the goblins had managed to hit his palm with the hammer it had been carrying, probably breaking a few fingers as a result. It didn't hurt now when it was bandaged well and tight enough, but Roden wouldn't stop asking about it and worrying over it, and it was slowly driving Úron crazy.

"You really should be more careful", Roden said and glanced at his little brother. "Mother will kill me for letting that happen."

"She will not, and please, stop mentioning it", Úron pleaded and shot a glare towards Roden. "I am tired of it. I am fine, it does not hurt, you are not responsible for it. Now please stop, okay? You should concentrate on something more important, like finding Kili."

"It's what we're doing. The Rocky Pond isn't far, that's where we were ordered to go look for him, right?"

"Yeah", Úron replied, nodding. Legolas had told everyone to take some food with them and go search from different locations, places where Kili might be. Úron and Roden had been ordered to Rocky Pond - it was just what the name said, a little pond surrounded by a lot of big rocks and small caves. It was not the safest place in Mirkwood, but it had shelter. Alvor and Erisdír had been sent to patrol the woods, just look for Kili if he happened to be sleeping in a tree, a bush or somewhere around in general. The prince of Mirkwood had gone with Gwaen -mostly to protect Kili if Gwaen did find him- to the riverside that actually wasn't too far.

Úron knew that Kili needed to be found or the king would probably murder each and all of them, including his own son. Still, somehow it didn't feel right. Now that he knew something of Kili, he considered the dwarf as a friend in trouble. Something in him had just made Úron feel sorry for him in a way - so he really hoped he wouldn't find Kili from the Rocky Pond. He didn't want the guilt on his shoulders for taking him back to the imprisonment now when he had his freedom again.

Silence fell on them as they continued their travel. It didn't take them long to arrive there - not more than ten minutes. Roden eyed their surroundings briefly and then told his brother to check the caves as he went to look from the forest around them. "I don't think the dwarf is stupid enough to sleep in these caves, since they are quite obvious hiding places, but look in them anyways. We will meet here in half an hour", said Roden before heading off.

_Maybe Roden is right_, Úron thought as he started to approach one of the three caves he knew of. _Kili would be stupid for hiding in here. And I don't think he is stupid at all.. so maybe I will not find him. Hopefully nobody does. _

With a grin Úron got to the first one and peeked in. It was really small and narrow, but a dwarf could have fit in. It was empty, just as Úron had hoped for, as was the second. When he came to the third cave, his heart was pounding a little faster. This was the deepest one, but not the widest. It was actually really narrow and low - he would have to crouch a little if we went in, and in order to check the whole cave he would have to do that. It wouldn't be a problem otherwise, but he _hated _caves. Narrow spaces made him feel anxious, like the walls of that space would fall on him, like he couldn't breathe.

He let his bag full of food fall onto the ground. Taking a deep breath, he walked in.

He almost hit his head to the ceiling of the cavern as he entered it, but quickly he lowered his head enough to avoid doing so. Due to the rising sun it wasn't too dark at first, but the deeper he went the darker it got. The cave turned to the left, and suddenly it was pitch black, but his eyes adjusted quickly and he continued walking.

Every step he took made it harder for him to breathe. He felt trapped even though he knew that there was nothing blocking his way out - his heart started beating a little faster as he continued to walk in the complete darkness, but he just kept reminding himself that _it's okay. I'm not in danger - it's just a cave-_

His foot hit something solid but soft and he flinched back, gazing down at the something he had hit. That something groaned and moved, and Úron realized what it was. Kili.

A wave of disappointment hit the elf as he eyed the dwarf who now sat up and blinked furiously, maybe in order to actually see something in the darkness.

"It's me", Úron muttered, kneeling next to Kili, noticing how awkward his arm looked. Wrong, somehow. "What happened to you?" _Calm down, Úron. The cave won't hurt you. Just breathe through it._

Kili, whose eyes just now started to adjust to the blackness surrounding him, instinctively looked down to his arm even though he knew well what it looked like. He was still groggy - the elf had woken him up, and his head wasn't yet working. As he tried to find the words to tell Úron what had happened to him, he realized that he had been found.

He had been found and he would be taken back to the camp - he wouldn't go!

In near panic Kili jumped, backing a little until his back met the end of the cavern. He saw the confusion in Úron's eyes, but he couldn't concentrate on it. "I won't go back!" he gasped, desperately trying to come up with a way to get away. He knew that where Úron went, Roden followed, so the older brother couldn't be far - Legolas had warned him that if he was found during his escape, he would be brought back! Kili couldn't get his mind off that.

"What? Kili, I-", Úron started but then realized that he didn't know what to say or do. He knew he should take Kili back, but...

It didn't feel right.

Still, it was what he was told to do, and he couldn't disobey his prince's commands.

"I don't want to hurt you, Úron, but I will if you try to take me back to the others. Just let me escape, nobody has to know!" Kili cried, desperate, when an idea crossed his mind. He could tell the truth, if nothing else helped - he wasn't sure if Úron would believe, but it could be worth a shot.

"And I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't come with me willingly. I'm sorry, Kili, but I didn't have a say in this", Úron replied, mentally hitting himself. He was torn between a command and his own will - and he knew that he was picking the wrong choice, but he _couldn't _risk his own life over the dwarf's. If someone _ever _knew that he found Kili but let him go..

"Legolas told you to look for me, I know. We planned it all", Kili sighed, relaxing a little. He wasn't that weak. He was a Durin and he would fight his way out of this, reason his way out or escape again, but he wouldn't plead like a coward. "You must remember how I asked to speak with prince Legolas a few days ago. He then told me that the reason I am here is because your king Thranduil has found out something about my family, and wants to execute me, and Legolas thinks that he cannot do that to me. He first brought me here to give me some more time, but later decided to let me escape. It was our _plan." _

The look on Úron's face was a mix of disbelief and confusion. He had forgotten about his fear for a moment. "Your plan was to let goblins attack us and during the fight you would run?"

"Not exactly", Kili replied with a laugh. "The goblins.. Our plan was a bit more complicated than that, at first. During the night it was Legolas' turn to stay up, he would lead me away from the camp. We would then fake my escape - I would hit him on the cheek so hard that some bruising would come, and I would start to run away as fast as possible. A little while later he would return to the camp, wake you up and tell you that I had attacked him and escaped. You would come after me, but I would be hiding and far away, you wouldn't find me and I would return home."

Úron raised his head a little and furrowed his brows. "And the goblins came before you got the time to do that, so you just ran." It was more of a question than a statement, for some reason.

"Yeah."

Úron found it hard to believe that the prince would do something like that - but on the other hand, he wasn't surprised by the news either. He had always thought that Legolas was more merficul than his father when it came to actually innocent beings. Legolas didn't have the same kind of hatred towards dwarves like his father, so the idea of him doing something like that wasn't odd.

Still, really?

For a moment they were both quiet, until Úron finally made his mind and sighed with a nod, relieved but scared. "I won't take you back, Kili, but you have to promise me that you will make it home in one piece, okay? Because otherwise this will be for nothing", Úron said and eyed the dwarf, who looked excited now. "Roden is somewhere in the woods outside, so you will have to be careful when you go. If he finds you, there is nothing I can do."

Kili nodded, looking up at the elf. "I promise, but I have one question. Is everyone okay? Not that I care what has happened to Gwaen, but the rest of you."

"Everyone is fine. I broke a few fingers and Alvor hit his head pretty hard but he is fine by now. The rest don't have a scratch on them - although I think that Gwaen is a little bruised", Úron told with an amused grin and started to walk out of the cave. He looked forward to getting some fresh air - he still felt like he couldn't breathe, as if there was a weight on his chest that couldn't be removed until he got to an open space.

When they got to the end of the cavern, Úron knelt down and opened his bag, taking out a piece of bread. As he got on to his feet again, he handed it to Kili with a smile on his face. "Good luck", he said, and as Kili grinned back and took off, he hoped that he had done the right decision.

xx

"I saw you", Gwaen said suddenly, breaking the silence. Legolas glanced at his companion, raising his other eyebrow even though he had a pretty good guess what the chief of guard was talking about.

"It's great that your sight is good", Legolas replied with a grin, receiving an angry glare.

"You know what I am talking about", stated the guard. "Last night, just after the battle with the goblins begun. The dwarf ran over to you, and then he ran away."

Legolas had already decided to act like he knew nothing, so he pulled his best confused look and stared at Gwaen. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Would you mind enlightening me?"

"You let the dwarf escape", Gwaen bluntly said and stopped on his tracks, and so Legolas seized as well. "And I am pretty sure that he isn't in this direction, and that you already knew it. I just can't figure out why, why would the prince of Mirkwood help aa pathetic creature as a dwarf? That dwarf, who has annoyed us both countless of times and deserves all that has come to him? It makes no sense.. that is, if you are fully in your senses. And it seems that you are not."

"I never knew you could be that paranoid", Legolas laughed, faking it the best he could, but to be fully honest, Gwaen's arrogance was starting to annoy him.

"You can keep acting, but I know that that is the truth, and I will tell the king about it."

A rush of anger suddenly took over the prince, blinding him for a second. It took Legolas half a second to push the head of the guard against the nearest tree with such a force and speed that it surprised both of them. "Think whatever you want, but you will not mention anything to my father, or I will make sure to get you out of the position of head of the guard and let Manadh take your place. He at least knows who I am - I am your prince, not your subordinate. If you do not believe me and what I tell you, fine, but you will keep your thoughts to yourself."

"When the prince turns his back to his people, I will not keep my mouth shut", Gwaen hissed, glaring the prince who held his arm on his throat but not giving any pressure - yet, anyways. "You let a _dwarf_, our prisoner, escape. Do you not remember what happened to Aíthon after he helped the boy escape?"

Legolas couldn't help a laughter. "I haven't turned my back to my people. I haven't done anything. But fine", he said, releasing Gwaen, "tell the others. Tell my father. We shall see if they believe your word over mine."

xx

Kili didn't eat the piece of bread until the sun started to set and he felt like he could double over in hunger. He had gotten out of Mirkwood, but he still felt unsafe, and every now and then he would turn to look behind him, just to make sure that nobody was following him. He was always relieved when he saw no one there even though he _knew _that there would be nobody.

When the darkness fell on him, he grew a little desperate. There was no life to be seen around him, he had no food and nothing to keep himself warm with. His shoulder had, thankfully, gone mostly numb, but whenever he accidentally tried to move his arm a wave of hot pain flashed through it. He was tired and longed for a warm bed to sleep in and a pony to travel on.

"Keep walking, Kili. You'll find some place", he muttered to himself as he dragged his body forward. "There has to be a house here somewhere. Some kind of life."

He walked for a longer while, but finally he saw light in the distance. It was a huge relief - he had started to give up hope already, but there it was, a house. Naturally there was the possibility that whoever lived in the house wasn't fond of guests, but Kili hoped for the best as he started to approach the house.

Finally he got to the door. He knocked once, nobody came to open the door. By the time he had knocked the fourth time, someone finally yanked the door forcefully open and a man looked down at Kili.

The man was fairly big, broad shoulders and muscular-looking limbs. He had a short beard and little hair, all of them almost black in color. His face had a lot of old scars, and it seemed that the man liked fighting - something in his whole appearance just made it obvious.

"Honey, who is it?" echoed a female voice from somewhere behind the man.

"A dwarf. Must be a friend of yours, I have never seen this one before", the man replied.

Kili grinned and shook his head. "Actually, neither of you know me", he said, bowing politely. "My name is Kili, son of Dís. I am from the Blue Mou-"

"Cut the small talk and get to the business", said the man sharply, interrupting Kili. "Why are you here, if neither of us know of you?"

"I came to ask for a place to spend the night in and possibly for some food, if you have any to give", Kili said, feeling a bit unsure about it all. The man didn't feel very hostile, and suddenly Kili regretted opening his mouth to the man in the first place.

A woman appeared next to the man. She was surprisingly small and looked like a teenager from her body, but her face looked older. Her blonde hair was braided beautifully to the side of her head. "Who are you, dwarf?"

"His name was Keli", the man answered for Kili.

"Actually, it was Kili", Kili corrected.

"And what do you want, Kili?" asked the woman. She looked way more pleasant than the man, and Kili immediately felt like it might actually work.

Kili explained his situation but made sure to leave the elves out of it. He told that he had been traveling home from the Iron Hills, but he was attacked by a goblin raid and while he had been lucky enough to survive it with only few injuries, his pony had left with all his food and things on it.

The woman looked apologetic, while the man looked very unimpressed. "Give us a moment, darling", said the woman and closed the door, leaving Kili outside. Sighing, Kili sat down on the ground, stretching his sore legs. He could hear the couple talking inside, and even though he couldn't hear what they were saying, it sounded like the woman was trying to convince the man to help Kili. He couldn't help a little smile spreading on his lips.

Soon the door opened again, and Kili jumped up only to see the man again. "Come in", he said in a grumpy voice, walking in but leaving the door open. Thanking Mahal, Kili walked in behind the man and closed the door.


	15. Chapter 15: The truth

An: Thanks for the nice reviews C: I'm still thrilled about all the followers! This is a bit longer chapter again. I hope you like it.

I will start a babysitting-work soon and tomorrow I will go meet the kids I will babysit, but I don't know how much time that will engulf so I might update less after this chapter. Or might be that I won't! Anyways, just a heads-up if I do start to update less, like once a week instead of twice.

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><p>The house had five rooms. When you came in, there was a short corridor with three doors in it and some paintings on the walls - one of the doors lead to toilet, one of them lead to living room and one of them lead outside.<p>

The living room wasn't big or fancily decorated. It only had a couple of soft armchairs and a really low, wooden table with red candles on it. Two big windows were located behind the armchairs, opposite the wall with two doors. These two doors lead to the bedroom of the couple and another lead to kitchen. Both of this rooms had a huge window in it, and they were nicer in many ways. Well-decorated and open, with beautifully crafted furniture in both of them. The double-bed the couple owned looked heavenly soft and with the dark wood it was also really expensive-looking. The kitchen had a long, wooden table and benches in the middle of it, surrounded by kitchen cabinets and counters.

Lora and Michel were both still deep asleep when Kili woke up. It was mid-day, Kili guessed, because the sun was high on the sky already, and the dwarf couldn't help but wonder what was the last time he had slept that long.

He lied on his back, staring at the living room ceiling. It felt good to just relax, and so he shut his eyes once again.

Somehow he drifted off again, because the next time he opened his eyes the couple was already up. Lora, the woman, was in the kitchen preparing food, and Michel, the man, was sitting in the bedroom of theirs. He looked like he was struggling to stay awake, because he held his head in his hands and groaned every few seconds.

"Good morning", Kili said as he made his way to the kitchen, and received a quick, somewhat awkward smile in return. Thinking that the best thing he could do was to be as polite as he could, he opened his mouth again. "I don't think I mentioned this yesterday, but your home is really nice. Have you decorated it yourself?"

Lora chuckled and shook her head. "No, unfortunately I haven't. We got this house after my husband's parents passed -this was their home before that- and we haven't changed this a lot. I would like to make this look like _me, _but he insists that in order to honor their memory, we should keep this the way it is now." She ended her sentence with another smile before turning back to the vegetables on the table.

"Oh, well his parents did good job on the house", Kili told, even if he didn't really think so, and fell quiet. He wasn't sure what to say.

Later that day, when they were all three by the table eating meat and potatoes, Michel cleared his throat and looked at Kili in a very serious way, and immediately tons of different, scary scenarios ran through the dwarf's mind. Did he know about the elves and that Kili had been lying to them? Was he about to kick Kili out? Would he take Kili to the nearest town and hand them over to the guards?

Thankfully the man spoke before Kili could pass out from distress.

"As you probably noticed, I am not very happy that you are here", the man begun, eyeing Kili with his huge, blue eyes. "My wife, however, wants to help you, and I will listen to her wish. We will help you -give you medicine for your injuries, make sure you have enough food and rent you a pony- but we do need a payment for the help. I am a poor woodcutter and my wife helps the elderly for little money sometimes, and so we don't have enough to help you without you giving something as return. I wish we did, but we don't."

That left Kili somewhat uncertain although relieved. Did the man want money? Did he want Kili to work in order to pay it back to them? Naturally he would do something for the help - he had never thought that the people would help him and want nothing in return. The only problem was _how. _Kili had no money, no gold, nothing that could actually be used to buy things.

"And what exactly do you need?" Kili asked, ducking his head a little before looking up to the man again.

"First I thought about work", the man explained, "but I am positive that my employee would not hire a dwarf. He is rather doubtful when it comes to other races, he trusts no one but men he knows. The village nearest is small as well - they don't need any more workers. A couple of shopkeepers, a huntsman and a craftsman is all we have. So handing us money is the only thing I can think of. If you pay half, we will pay the other half."

_Mahal.. _Kili thought. _I have no money. What now? I need their help._

Not thinking about it, Kili opened his mouth. "Thorin Oakenshield is my uncle", he said, closing his eyes for a second. "We are a wealthy family - if you help me now, he will generously reward you. I give my word for it."

He opened his eyes and saw that Michel seemed to freeze. Many knew of Thorin Oakenshield, and even though it wasn't always wise to tell people about it, as many disliked his father and grandfather, these two didn't seem to. And even if they did, who would say no to a generous reward, even if it came from someone they hated?

A few heartbeats passed in silence, and Kili grew anxious. He needed someone's help or he would suffer during his way home - and on foot the journey would take twice as long than on a pony.

"How generous?" asked the man finally. Kili let out a breath he didn't know he had held before answering.

"More than you will spend on helping me", he told the man and forced a reassuring grin on his lips. "He is worried about me, and when I return and tell him that you have aided me, he will be more than happy to do that."

Nothing of that was a lie, so Kili was relieved that Michel seemed to really consider it. Lora smiled a little at Kili when their eyes met, and she gave the dwarf a short nod of approval. Kili flashed a quick smile back before turning his head back to Michel. "So, is this arrangement fine for you? I give my word - your help won't go unrewarded. I would be hungry and cold if it weren't for you."

Michel nodded, looking at Kili in a pleased way. "This sounds fine. I trust your word, Kili, as you have done nothing for me to believe otherwise."

Kili sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"You will have to thank my beautiful wife. I wouldn't have let you enter in the first place", Michel said and grinned for the first time, and Lora shifted where he sat next to Michel, blushing a little. "I am happy that we can help you."

This sweet talk was all due to the fact that they would get a big reward, and they all knew it, but Kili couldn't have cared less. He would get everything he needed for his journey home, and that was all that mattered. Sure, Kili knew that someone else could have helped him as well, but maybe no one else would have, only Mahal knew that.

"I will ride to the village tomorrow to get you everything you need", Michel informed Kili as he rose from the table. "You may spend this night here, as well, and tomorrow you will be able to leave, if everything goes well."

Kili nodded, eyeing the man as he left the kitchen, digging into his food again.

xx

Legolas was relieved to finally reach the palace. He had gotten enough of the woods for a little while. He was annoyed at Gwaen - no, more than annoyed, he was almost angry with Gwaen for his arrogance and the way he had acted - but he was also worried what his father might think if he believed Gwaen's word over his own. Thranduil was a complicated elf, and even Legolas could never know how he would react to different things. Somehow Thranduil could always surprise him. That was partially why he didn't make assumptions - whatever he guessed, his father would do the exact opposite.

There was a good side in all of that, as well, though. Gwaen hadn't told the other guards anything. Legolas was almost sure that most of the guards would have believed their chief of the guard, although he wasn't sure of Roden or Úron. The two young guards both seemed to dislike Gwaen, Úron a little more than Roden, but both nevertheless.

As they got to the stables and handed their horses to the elf guarding them, Legolas caught a glimpse of Gwaen, looking as haughty as always, and something just snapped in the prince's head. He had had enough of Gwaen's attitude, as if he was better than everyone. He wasn't the prince, Legolas was, and last time Legolas checked, princes were treated with respect. That meant that even the oh so majestic and royal Gwaen had to respect Legolas, which he had failed to do.

"Gwaen, could I talk to you?" Legolas asked, trying his best to keep his face expressionless.

"Of course", the head of the guard answered, eyeing Legolas as the prince motioned the others to leave. As the others, excluding the elf looking after the horses, were gone, Legolas sprint forward and pushed Gwaen against the nearest tree.

Gwaen gasped as his back hit the trunk and for a second he felt like he would fall to his side, but quickly he steadied himself. This situation was familiar to him already.

The elf looking after the ponies saw what was happening and quickly escaped to the stables, muttering something about feeding the horses. Legolas waited until the elf was gone before he opened his mouth, not wanting him to hear their conversation.

"I am giving you a fair warning", Legolas begun, his voice low and full of anger as he stared into the eyes of Gwaen. "Do what you must - I don't care what you tell or don't tell my father, but remember that I am not a guard. I am not one of those elves you can bully around and threaten - I am your _prince, _and you will treat me that way."

"Is your ego hurt?" Gwaen asked, laughing a little. "I'm sorry, _my prince, _but I cannot take you seriously after this whole thing with the dwarf. And do not worry about what I will do - everyone will hear about it. Not a single elf in Mirkwood will have to wonder why the dwarf is gone, because everyone will know that their prince freed the hostage."

Legolas had to use every bit of his self-control not to hit the dwarf he was still violently gripping by the collar. He wanted to throw Gwaen on the ground and lock him outside the palace and never let him in again, but he would not. He wouldn't be as pathetic as Gwaen.

"I wonder what everyone will think when they know that their chief of guard has abused and beaten an innocent dwarf countless of times", Legolas answered, releasing Gwaen a bit harshly. "As I said, do what you must, as I will do the same. Just remember your place."

With that he walked away and into the palace.

It didn't take many hours for Úron to come running to Legolas. The concerned look on the young guard's face made Legolas realize what the news would be - but he decided to play dumb for some reason, and so when Úron reached the prince, Legolas asked what was the problem.

"Your father wants to see you", Úron said, going straight to the point. "He told me it was urgent, and he didn't look very pleased. I suggest that you go there immediately, or he will probably murder me."

Legolas chuckled, shaking his head. "He wouldn't do that. Do you happen to know why he is so angry today?"

"No, but I saw Gwaen exiting just before the guard by the doors told me to go in, so I think it might have something to do with Kili", Úron said in all honesty, his heart racing in his chest. "I'm not sure."

"That is a pretty good guess", Legolas muttered as he eyed the young guard. Úron seemed too nervous - as if there was something the kid was hiding. "Is there anything I should know?"

A few seconds passed in silence, as Úron tried to look for words. He wasn't sure if he could tell the prince about how he had helped the dwarf - he still doubted that Legolas would have helped Kili escape, but on the other hand he believed it. It was all so hard.

_Screw it_, Úron thought. "I, uhmm.. I found Kili from the Rocky Pond and I let him go." His voice was a mere whisper so none of the passing elves would hear it. He could feel his heart starting to race even harder - he had said it, and now he would end up in deep trouble. He knew it. Oh God, why had he said it?

"Okay", Legolas said and nodded, an amused look in his eyes. Somehow he wasn't surprised. "And?"

"And?" asked Úron. "Are you not mad at me for helping him? I let him escape."

"Well, there are worse things you could have done", Legolas answered before walking away with a wink, leaving Úron alone and unsure. He felt surprised, happy and relieved at the same time, and it was all so confusing, the mess of feelings, but it was mostly positive so Úron let it go and left with a sigh.

xx

Legolas drew in a deep breath before pushing the doors to his father's room open, stepping in. He noticed that Thranduil was standing in front of his throne, his back to Legolas, but as soon as Legolas had shut the doors, he turned around, eyeing his son.

"How was your travel?" asked Thranduil, sitting down as Legolas started to approach his father.

"I believe it went fine. We were attacked by a goblin raid, but we finished them. I think that was the raid we heard of - so now it has been taken care of."

"I am relieved to hear that", Thranduil answered dryly, sighing. "I am hoping that you will not lie to me after I ask this. Is it true, what the head of the guard told me? I suppose you know about it, because he told me that you have been pushing him against trees a lot lately."

Finally reaching his father, Legolas stopped, staring at him. He knew he would have to tell the truth and accept the consequences, there was no way around it. He had known what he was doing, he had known that he was doing against his father's will, he had known that he wouldn't get away with it. Now was the time to accept it as a fact.

Ducking his head, Legolas nodded. "Yes. It is true, whatever he told you", he said, meeting his father's curious eyes. "I couldn't approve your plan to kill him, and I had to do something. When the goblins came, I told him to run and so he left. I do not know where he is now, but I hope he is safe and far away."

Silence fell on them for a moment, but something in Thranduil's eyes told Legolas that his father wasn't angry or disappointed. It was odd, but he felt hope growing inside of him.

"Do the other guards know about this?" Thranduil asked finally, standing up.

"No, they do not, and I hope to keep it that way, although I cannot control Gwaen from telling them", Legolas explained, backing away a step.

"That is good", Thranduil said, ducking his head a little as he thought. The few seconds the silence lasted felt like an eternity to Legolas, as the agony of not knowing flashed inside him. He was still hopeful, although every passing second seemed to make him feel worse.

Finally Thranduil nodded. "We should keep it that way. I am not blaming you in any way, Legolas, it is good that you let the dwarf escape. Killing him would have been highly unnecessary and brutal, and I am sad that I realize it this late. I will make sure that nobody believes Gwaen's word of what happened - I am also aware of the incidents between Gwaen and the dwarf, and I will make sure that he answers for those."

Legolas could hardly keep himself from reminding his father that it was _his _stupidity that led to all of this in the first place, but he knew that Thranduil would never admit it, and that this was the best he would ever get. But that was better than he would have _ever_ hoped for, and a wide smile spread on his face. "Thank you, father."

"Make sure to inform Aíthon of this", Thranduil said with a wave of an hand before sitting down again. "He deserves to know the truth, as he became close with the dwarf. Everyone else will come to believe that the dwarf was killed by the goblins."

Nodding, Legolas swirled around and left, not believing what he had just heard. That couldn't have been his father.

* * *

><p>The next chapter will be more about Kili, I promise! There just wasn't a lot to tell about him in this chapter, tbh.<p>

Here is a secret for you guys - the choices Thranduil made, the choices I planned for this fic, are because of the plot. There is always the thing that goes pretty much like -_okay, so I need Kili to be held as a hostage in Mirkwood, but why?_ There must be a reason. Same goes for -_w__hy did Legolas take Kili with them, because it was absolutely unnecessary and only bothers the guards?_ There must be a reason for that, as well. If Thranduil had been a loving, accepting, nice leader from the very first met, this fic would have gone like;

Kili and Fili travel home from Iron Hills. "Oh no, we don't get to stay the night in Lake-Town. Okay, we'll sleep next to the river. Oh no, elves took me! Oh okay, Thrandy is nice, I'll just return to Fili then. He scolds me for putting myself in danger but at the end of the day we laugh at it. We travel back home." THE END.

Anyways, I love all of the reviews and I so get why so many of you have told me about the elves, but I promise, it has all been for the sake of the plot. Don't hate me. :C I wanted to speak about this earlier, but I figured that I would spoil too much stuff if I did, so it's here now.

Leave a review! What do you think will happen to Gwaen? ;)


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